Last Twilight
by Picoroo
Summary: "I won't be doing your paperwork anymore" After a tradegy on the battlefield, the 11th squad finds it's self one member short, and against opponents that can't be killed with physical strength, Soul Society finds itself in a bit of trouble. COMPLETE!
1. The End of the Beginning

**Hello again. Here is yet another bleach story to satisfy my obbsession. Sorry to all those who are waiting for Hold On to be updated, but due to a serious writer's block, that is now on temporary haitus. This is very angsty, so sorry if you don't like that sort of thing. Tissue will be needed. This is set after Aizen is defeated, so let's just imagine he has.  
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**Disclaimer: Maybe, one day, I'll own Bleach, as unlikely as that may seem, but for now, I don't own anything......Execpt for Aimi and Mizaki.

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Everyone had always expected the eleventh division Third Seat to be the first to die, leaving his long time friend and follower behind. Ikkaku had always loved to fight, always gone into battle looking to die a honourable death by someone who was genuinely stronger than him. He was always first into battle, and when faced with a strong opponent, he pushed Yumichika behind him, and fought himself, never letting anyone interfere, even if he died or was on the point of death.

It wasn't just that everyone thought he was going to be the first to die, most people _knew_ that fact. And Yumichika was on top of the list. He rarely fought, only when there was more than one opponent was he actually allowed into the battle. And even on these rare occasions Ikkaku took the main bulk of the hollows. And those times when he was stuck on the sidelines? Well, these were the worst of them all.

It was always hard to stand and watch, to just stand there, not moving, while watching your best friend nearly die in a battle. Throughout the fight, Yumichika finds himself itching to join in, to stop the hollow, or Arrancarr from killing him, but he knew Ikkaku would never forgive him if he tried, and it was always that, and the grin on his best friends face that stopped him. He knew Ikkaku loved the thrill of battle, loved to be fighting for life or death. Others always thought it was Yumichika's vain outlook on life that stopped him from fighting, worry that it was going to mess his hair up or something of the like.

Ikkaku knew it ran deeper than that. He knew Yumichika respected his rule when it came to fighting. No interfering. Ever. And Yumichika never disobeyed that rule, even during the most bloody of battles, where Ikkaku was nearing death. Even while he was fighting, Ikkaku noticed the twitch every time he got hit, noticed the worry in his friends eyes throughout fight, and always made sure he won those battles, not just so he could live to see another, as Kenpatchi Zaraki had once told him, but to see the relief and happiness in the purple orbs to know that he was alive.

But despite this, he knew that one day he would die, leaving his best friend behind to fend for himself.

Everyone knew this.

Maybe...Maybe that's why it was such a shock when Yumichika died on the battlefield, while his bald friend survived.

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The shrill sound of the alarm bell echoed throughout Serietei, rousing the Shinigami who weren't already awake from their slumber. The early sunrise glowed orange, casting long shadows over the city. Surrounding the high walls were large groups of Hollows, those in front seemingly weak, but the one or two behind each group were practically leaking power.

"_Squads three to five, take the East gate. Squads Six, seven, and eight, North gate, Squads Nine and eleven, west. And ten and thirteen, South gate."_ A Hell Butterfly flew through each of the divisions, calling out orders from the captain-commander. Soul Society was in chaos.

"Yumichika! There's an emergency!" The bald third seat of the eleventh division burst into the room at full speed, grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of fighting.

Yumichika had just finished tying the knot of his sash when Ikkaku burst into the room, and surprisingly, he didn't flinch at the loud bang, whereas most people would. Maybe this was because this had just happened so much recently it was losing its effect on the fifth seat. "Did you actually think I hadn't realised?" He said dryly, not even bothering to look up as he grabbed his sword from its place leaning against the drawer. He looked up at Ikkaku, mirroring the grin with equal enthusiasm. "Let's go."

Outside there was barely enough room to move around, much less get to the battle ground, the shinigami were in a panic, running to and fro. Screaming was heard in the distance. Ikkaku grinned back at Yumichika, before taking off into the air, heading for the West gate, where their division was based.

Yumichika found himself hesitating, watching Ikkaku flash step away from the door. Something inside was telling him to stay here, to guard the inner city. Something was saying '_don't go'_, don't follow Ikkaku, don't go into battle. But he brushed it off as nothing, tiredness maybe, and leapt into the air after his friend.

As he leapt through the air, he felt a familiar reiatsu draw near behind him.

"Tachiou!" He yelled as the captain flew past him, the pink ball of energy attached to his shoulder, as usual.

"Hey!" Shouted the pink ball, turning to face him. "Weirdo-chan, there's lots of strong ones here, Ken-chan's gonna have fun!" She giggled excitedly as they neared the main battle. Yumichika smiled, rolling his eyes at the feral grin forming on his captains face. Looking ahead he noticed Ikkaku, already locked in battle with a strong opponent, a four legged furry creature that strongly resembled a cat, but with longer claws and very, very fast reflexes.

'_Well, at least he's having fun.'_ Yumichika though with a grin as he threw himself into the middle of the chaos, releasing his Zanpaktou, and slicing at a weak hollow, killing it immediately. But it _was _only a weak one, many more surrounded him, most much, much stronger. Using the skills he had built up over the years, Yumichika kept slicing and cutting at the hollows, dodging strikes here and there, but generally doing quite well. As all fights go, he ended up with a few scratches and bruises, but nothing that seriously lowered his standard.

Ikkaku had long defeated his opponent, and moved onto larger, more powerful prey, finding his first fight rather boring, needing the thrill of a better opponent, someone stronger to really test his strength. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a orange and black blur run through the commotion, the early morning sun glinting of his sword as he stopped to fight yet another hollow. It would seem he had the same idea as the third seat. The stronger hollow seemed to be further back, if they are defeated early on, the smaller, weaker hollows will be easy to pick off without any distraction from the strong. That and he probably just wanted a stronger opponent. As Ikkaku began to fight yet another hollow, still grinning, he kept watching the fifth seat in the corner of his eye.

Yumichika was fighting what looked like a weak hollow, judging by the size of it, but was finding it was stronger and faster than it looks. The hollow was small, only about the same size as Yumichika, and was furry, with tall, sharp ears, and glowing yellow eyes. Dodging and slashing at the hollow whenever there was an opening was more difficult than it looked. He had managed to scratch the hollow a bit, but nothing life-threatening.

"You think you can defeat me?" The creature growled in a low voice. "Think you can do what these weaklings have tried?" It gave a small chuckle, grinning from ear to furry ear, showing off long sharp fangs, dripping with the blood of its last victim, who was lying in the mud, in pieces, not too far off.

"There's a difference between them and me." He grimaced at the sight of the broken bodies on the ground. "They are unseated shinigami, not very powerful, nor particularly talented fighters."

"And you are?" The thing asked.

"Eleventh squad fifth seat, Ayasegawa Yumichika." He grinned, lunging at the creature, who dodged out of the way, up. Growling, Yumichika leapt after him, up into the air. The creature tried attacking again, but Yumichika dodged easily, spinning around to face the hollow, who had bared his teeth in a growl.

_**This thing has a strange reiatsu**__._

_What?_

_**Try slicing it's mask.**_

His brief conversation with his Zanpaktou was cut short as the hollow dived at him again. He dodged, but not before attempting to break the mask. A loud crack was head, signalling he was successful. Smirking slightly he turned, sword lowered slightly.

_**Don't get smug just yet.**_

He was right, the hollow turned to face him, grinning. The cracked mask was beginning to reform its self. Violet eyes widened. '_it's regenerating.'_

_**I thought so.**_

_What do you mean?_

_**They can't be defeated by pure physical strength. The only thing that can is Kidou.**_

_But that means..._ He glanced round at the rest of the division.

_**No, I think there's only a few of these. You're going to have to use it.**_

_But I...._

_**Does it look as if anyone else can take it on? **_One glance around the battle field proved that, not one person wasn't stuck in battle. Meaning nobody was paying attention to him.

_....Alright. _He sighed, dodging the hollow as it leapt at him again.

But then a burst of reiatsu caught his attention, turning his head he saw Ikkaku grinning from ear to ear, fighting an opponent twice the size of him.

The hollow saw an opening, the shinigami was distracted, and so, flash stepping, he leapt in front of him. Yumichika turned, wide-eyed, the hollow too close to be able to do anything. With a shocking speed, the creature opened his mouth wide, wider than it looks like it could, fangs dripping, and tried to sink his teeth into the shinigami. Yumichika dodged, but only enough for his head not to be caught in the wide mouth, a searing pain screamed in his chest, as he felt two long fangs tear through his lungs, ripping through the other side with ease. It only took a few seconds for the pain to dull, a numbness sweeping through his body.

_**DO IT! DO IT NOW!**_ Kujaku screamed in his head._** Before it leaves you for dead and moves on to the others. None of your division can defeat it. **_

Coughing out blood, with the teeth still embedded in his chest, Yumichika tightened his grip on his sword, determination mixed with pain clear on his face.

"Split and Deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku." He whispered, and the four bladed sword began to glow, before merging and splitting, writhing vines erupting from the hilt. They didn't have to go far, wrapping around the body attached to the shinigami, not daring to move him away for fear of hurting Yumichika further.

But the creature began to writhe in the hold, making Yumichika hiss sharply as the pain came shooting back. The vines gripped tighter, another two wrapping around the creatures neck and head, keeping him completely still.

Yumichika felt himself becoming drowsy, eyelids were becoming heavy, but determination kept him awake, kept him going. It only took a few more seconds for the hollow to dissolve, the vibrations of the scream shaking his body. Having defeated the thing, Yumichika felt his vision becoming blurred, seeing the flowers raining down, but unable to do anything about it. Unable to reach up and take one, to heal his injuries. He felt his sword become solid again in his hand.

Blackness filled his vision, and he felt himself falling, numbness once again spreading throughout his body. He felt himself hit the ground with a sickening crack, and he slipped into unconsciousness, the pain slipping away into nothingness.

* * *

Shuuhei Hisagi was struggling against a strong hollow close to the wall. His division was based on the west gate, along with the eleventh. This wasn't so bad, most of his men were still safe behind the gate, standing guard in case of a break. The eleventh division, because of their love of fighting, were all out and locked in battle. But the hollows were stronger than they had anticipated, many of the weaker ones were being defeated easily, but that usually exhausted the shinigami, and when the weak ones were all dead the strong hollows were able to move forward, attacking the weakened shinigami. It was clever. Too clever for hollows such as these. Was there someone pulling the strings? Hollow or human?

Dodging low, and striking hard at the hollow, Hisagi managed to defeat his opponent. Breathing hard, he glanced around the battlefield. Most hollows had now been defeated, only a few were struggling on, most of these now faced with more than one shinigami, or an eager captain of the eleventh.

Ikkaku managed to catch his eye, against a opponent twice his size, he was bloody and looked as if his arm was broken, but it wasn't stopping him. If anything he seemed to be enjoying it even more. Giving a small chuckle he headed towards the bald shinigami as he finished his battle with the creature-slash-hollow. Letting out a large burst of Reiatsu, Ikkaku finished the fight in one blow, before standing up straight. Feeling the ninth squad's vice-captain's reiatsu, he turned to greet him, but was stopped by a glowing flower falling in front of his face.

"What the...?" He caught the flower, being careful not to crush it, and examined it. It seemed to be made purely of spiritual energy, glowing a light blue with the power that made it. He looked up to see Shuuhei, who staring at his own flower in his hand, wide-eyed with shock.

"So he used it, huh?" Hisagi said softly. Both heads jerked up when a loud 'thud' was heard from behind Ikkaku.

Ikkaku spun around, his eyes widening when he saw what had fallen. '_no.'_ There, lying in front of him, was his worst nightmare. Lying on the ground, sword still held tight in his hand, was Yumichika, unconscious, the front of his uniform ripped, with two gaping holes in his chest. As much as his mind was screaming at him to do something, anything, his body was frozen, staring at the unmoving body on the ground.

A Slight twitch in Yumichika's hand almost made him jump, but shocked him out of his frozen state, he rushed towards the body, dropping to his knees next to him.

"Go! Get a medic!" He yelled behind him, making Hisagi jump. "Now!" The lieutenant nodded, flash-stepping towards the Fourth Squad to find a healer.

Ikkaku turned back to his friend, brushing a stray strand of hair of his face. The feathers that usually adorned his eye and brow were gone, his hair was a mess, and dirt covered the shinigami from head to toe. He would freak if he was awake. Or even alive. Ikkaku panicked at the thought, quickly pressing two fingers on his neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, faint and weak, but it was there nonetheless. Ikkaku breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't stop the panicked thoughts in his head.

_What if the healer doesn't get here in time?_

_Those injuries are pretty severe, he may not make it even if the healer does make it here._

And of course the main one:

_Why?_

"Damn it Yumi, it's not meant to be this way round. I'm the one who always get himself hurt remember, you're the careful one, the smarter one. How did you get yourself into this kind of mess? Look at yourself, how did you manage that? If I could I would take you to the healers myself, but I don't want to hurt you anymore than you are." He gave a shuddering sigh, trailing his finger down a pale cheek. If he died, if he didn't make it through, Ikkaku didn't know what he'd do. Yumichika was his best friend, closer than family, if he died...it didn't bear thinking about.

"We're here!" Came a voice from behind him. Turning, he saw Hisagi, and with him was the fourth seat of the fourth division, Aimi Hayashi. The healer quickly ran around the pair, dropping to her knees by them.

"I'm sorry it's only me." She said, as she begun to cast a healing spell over the injured man. "Tachiou and Fuku-Tachiou are both busy and I could get here fastest." She explained, as a pale blue glow appeared around Yumichika's body.

"I don't care. So long as you can heal him."

Aimi hesitated in her answer. "Well, I'm not-"

"You can heal him, can't you?" Hisagi asked over her shoulder. He grimaced at the sight of the injuries he had sustained, they were grave. Smaller injuries were scattered around his body, but the holes in his chest were life-threatening. It may be pessimistic but Hisagi didn't think he'll make it through.

"Please tell me you can." Ikkaku muttered, head down, his face in shadows. He took one of Yumichika's hands in his own, squeezing tight. Hisagi looked shocked. He always knew the pair were close, it was obvious, but to bring the bald man down to begging, that was really something strange.

Aimi sighed, lowering her head so her hair covered her face. "I don't know. I'm giving it all I've got. His injuries are severe, it could take a while for me to heal him, but it's just a case of him hanging on that long." She sighed again, checking over the broken body to see the process, the smaller injuries were beginning to heal, but the serious ones haven't even started. She could feel his reiatsu weakening more and more by the second. "Without treatment, I would say he's not going to last more than five more minutes." Ikkaku's eyes widened, and he sub-consciously tightened his hold on his friends hand. "He's lost a lot of blood, I'm not sure even the captain could heal this without him at least going into a coma."

"A Coma's better than dead." Ikkaku exclaimed. "Can't you do anything. Where's Unohana tachiou?"

"On the other side of Serietei." Hisagi said, his eyes downcast.

"He'd be gone before we can even make it halfway."Aimi said, as she poured more power into her spell. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she tried her hardest to keep the man alive. She bit her lip, hard, breaking the skin, a drop of blood running down her chin. Despite her hard work, the injuries didn't look as if they were even beginning to heal, much less heal completely. She wiped her eyes on her shoulder, hot tears beginning to form.

"I-I don't think I can do this." She muttered, keeping the spell going nonetheless.

Ikkaku stopped breathing, his heart beating hard in his chest, pounding in his ears. _No, no, this can't be happening._ No matter what they decided to do, Yumichika wasn't going to survive. Unohana simply wouldn't get here in time. Ikkaku felt his world shattering. Yumichika, his best friend, the one he swore to protect, the one and only person he would willingly die for, was dying. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"I'm sorry." A faint voice brought him back to reality, and he glanced up at Aimi, who was still trying her hardest to heal. His vision was becoming blurred, for the first time in his life, The great Madarame Ikkaku was crying.

"The best you can do now is say goodbye." Aimi said, the blue glow disappearing. She stood next to Hisagi, her head bowed, eyes downcast.

"Come on." Hisagi took her hand, leading her away from the heartbreaking scene.

"Yumi." Ikkaku muttered, inching closer to the barely alive man. "Don't do this. You can't do this....not to me." As gently as he could, he lifted his torso off the ground, cradling his head in the crook of his neck, wrapping his arms around the still body. Giving a shuddering breath, the bald man began to talk softly.

"I don't want to say goodbye. But then who does? You're my best friend, you always will be, no matter what, I promise. I'm still waiting for that miracle to happen, the way you always read about. But I can see that's not where this is going, as much as I want it to. You're leaving me. People always said I would be the first to go, not you. What cruel twist of fate this is. But then, if this pain is anything like what you would have to go through were I to die, I swear I'll lock myself in my room and stay safe forever. "

A weak scoff was heard from somewhere below. Ikkaku's eyes shot open, and he pulled back slightly to look down at Yumichika. His eyes were still closed, but a small smile graced his features.

"As if you...be ab-able t-to." His voice was quiet, barely heard even in the quiet of the morning. It was only then did Ikkaku notice they were alone on the field. A few shinigami were in sight, but all too far away for them to notice him.

"Shh." Ikkaku whispered. "Save your energy." Maybe the miracle would happen.

"S-sorry, f-or all this." Yumichika coughed, blood splattering the already soaked ground.

"I said be quiet Yumi." Ikkaku warned, tightening his grip on the frail body. "Just stay with me a little longer. Please."

"Ik-kak-u." He managed. "Please, l-let me say t-this. Don't beat y-yours-elf up over this, p-lease. I-I don't want to go e-either." Coughing up more blood, he shook slightly, gripping the black material of Ikkaku's uniform with one hand, and his sword in the other.

"I'm sorry." Ikkaku muttered into his hair. "I shouldn't have let this happen."

"Not... y-your fault." Yumichika murmured. "J-just one t-thing. T-Tanaka Mizaki. F-find her." His hand fell limp on his lap, the other dropping his sword, which landed on the floor with a surprising 'crack'. The sword had split up the middle, another crack running along the width of the sword near the hilt. "Sayonara, Ikkaku."

The body in his arms began to glow softly, slowly fading, until he was holding nothing but air.

He was gone.

Reaching forward with a shaking hand, Ikkaku gripped the hilt of the sword, lifting it off the ground, staring blankly at the broken blade left on the floor. _He's gone. He's really gone._ The thought continuously rung clear in his head, however much he wanted to deny it.

Bending over, dropping his head to the ground, still gripping the hilt of the sword as if his life depended on it, the powerful, tough third seat of the eleventh squad cried.

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Everyone knew Ikkaku would be the first to die.

But as it turns out....

...

Everyone was wrong.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading to the end. Please review, reviews bring light to my dark life ^^**

**Okay, so I killed off Yumi. Sorry. Don't worry, more chapters are coming, and things _should_ turn out okay. Next chapter: Ikkaku hits rock bottom, and we find out what happens to a certain character. One last thing (This AN is getting long) a lot of flashbacks are going into this, so if you have any ideas for Ikkaku and Yumichika, past scenes, that you would like to see in here, anything from the day they met to a few days before the beginning of the story, please send it in a PM or leave it in your review. Thanks ^^  
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	2. The Journey Alone Begins

**A/N: Okay, heres another chapter, more info at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own bleach, and probably never will.

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The sun rose slowly the next day, once again casting a orange-pink glow over the recovering city. Builders that had been rebuilding some of the outside walls roused from their sleep, moving to finish the work they had to cut short the day before. Guards patrolled the city, and stood by the half fixed walls, making sure no more hollows got into the huge city.

Many shinigami were still in the fourth division, resting quietly under the healers gaze. The attack the previous morning had been devastating, many being caught under the new, stronger hollow. There had been more around the walls, and it wasn't long before some of the smarter shinigami worked out how to kill them. There had been many deaths, mainly lower and unseated officers, but none too badly effecting their division. Tenth division and third division vice-captains were still healing, and Iba was still unconscious, but expected to wake up that morning.

Another among the unconscious was Madarame Ikkaku.

Aimi and Hisagi had gently roused the grieving man from the battleground the previous morning and taken him to the fourth division to get his injuries healed, as Aimi was still exhausted from trying to heal Yumichika. Ikkaku didn't argue, he just let himself get picked up and followed the pair in a daze.

Once they arrived at the healers, shinigami were still running around in a state of panic. There were still warriors in critical condition, and more were pouring in by the minute. Hisagi and Aimi struggled to find a free healer to heal both Ikkaku and Shuuhei.

When Zaraki caught sight of the bald warrior, and began to storm over, they panicked, quickly sending Aimi out to stop him, much to her horror.

"I wouldn't do that." She warned, her eyes wide. "He's still in a state of shock."

"State of shock? What's that meant to mean?" Zaraki exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I mean..." She trailed off, working out how to word the next sentence. She dropped her head. "As his captain, you should know, Ayasegawa-san died on the battlefield this morning." This was met by silence, and Aimi dared a peek at the huge captain before her. He was frozen, eyes wide. "I tried to save him, but his injuries were too severe. I'm sorry."

A pink head poked up over Zaraki's shoulder, her expression panicked. "Weirdo-chan's dead?" She asked, her voice filled with alarm.

"I'm sorry." Aimi repeated, bowing low.

"Hayashi-san, we've got a healer. Help me." Hisagi called over. Aimi spun around, away from the shocked and devastated faces, seeing the tattooed man, with a limp Ikkaku leaning on him. She ran over, leaving the stunned captain and vice-captain behind her, putting a arm underneath him. "He fainted, I think what had just happened finally hit him."

"Right let's go." They dragged him to a small room, where they laid him down on a bed, where a healer, one of the lower seats, began to heal his small injuries. It wasn't long before he was as good as new. The healer moved onto Hisagi, healing his, before bowing and backing out the room.

"He's okay now, Hayashi-san, we should go." Hisagi said from the door.

"But he's not." Aimi said sadly. "Look at his hand." Hisagi followed her gaze, thinking the healer had missed something. But what he saw wasn't what he expected.

Still clasped in a firm grip was what was left of Yumichika's sword, blade cut off near the hilt, which was covered in dried blood, the violet only showing through in small places. Hisagi's eyes widened. Even unconscious, even in the sorry state the third seat was in, he still managed to keep his hold on the broken blade. Still gripping the one thing that was left of his close companion and friend. He closed his eyes in sadness and in reverence for the fifth seat, or ex-fifth seat as he was now.

"I've only met him twice you know?" Aimi said softly. "Ayasegawa-san that is. Healed him after a battle once, and the other time I was dropping some paperwork off in the eleventh division. He seemed nice enough, Though I didn't know why he was in the eleventh, doesn't seem to fit in." She paused, leaning forward to prise the broken sword from his hand. It was tough, the bald was unbelievably strong, even when unconscious, but she eventually got it out, and began to gingerly clean the hilt. "But then, I don't exactly fit in here."

"You don't?"

"I'm a fourth seat, yes, but my swords a physical type. But I can't fight to save my life, I'm not built for it, I don't have the strength. But I'm really good at healing kidou, which is how I got such a high ranking." She explained, laying the sword on the bedside table gently, as if she was handling a china doll.

"Come on, we'd better go." Hisagi put a hand on her shoulder, and tried to lead her from the room. "I know you feel guilty, but it wasn't your fault, you said yourself, even if the captain tried, he may at most have gone into coma, and he may not have even survived that. Stop blaming yourself. There was nothing you could have done."

"Alright." Aimi muttered, letting herself be pushed gently out the room, shutting the door quietly behind them. In the busy hallway, Hisagi left the smaller girl to her duties as a healer, and moved to find anyone else to talk to. He wandered the halls, subtly glancing in rooms.

"Oh Shuuhei!" A High voice sung out from one of the rooms as he passed. Of course...

"Matsumoto?" He asked, walking back into the room he had passed. Matsumoto was sitting up in the bed, grinning widely at the tattooed man. "What happened to you?" He asked, sitting in the chair by her bed.

"In amongst the hollows there were these creatures that can't be defeated with physical attacks, only Kidou. I was fighting one and didn't know this at first, it managed to get my shoulder with its stupidly long teeth," she gestured to her left shoulder, "just after I worked it out. Defeated it and fainted." She grinned. "I'm okay now. And I see you're fine. Have you met anyone else?"

"I'm fine, and yes I met Ikkaku on the battlefield, and, for a short time, Yumichika." He said, dropping his head onto his interlocked hands.

"Are they okay? And is Yumichika healing or something? I heard Iba's still unconscious."

"No, he's not healing. We couldn't..." He trailed off. "Ikkaku's fine physically, but I don't think he'll be alright emotionally for a long time. If at all." Matsumoto furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, putting the pieces together in her head. When realisation finally dawned, her eyes widened.

"You can't mean..." Her expression was pained, and she gripped the sheet. "Yumichika's dead." She whispered. Hisagi nodded slowly, looking anywhere but her grey eyes, which were slowly filling with tears. "It can't be... everyone always said... the hollows weren't that powerful were they?"

"He was caught by one of the ones you were against, but couldn't defeat it in time. He did, in the end, but by that time it was too late. The creature had punctured both his lungs, and by the time a healer got there, he had lost too much blood. He woke long enough to say goodbye to Ikkaku, but..." He trailed off again, not wanting to finish. "He's gone."

"But... but... I knew there were deaths, Tachiou gave me our division's, and most other divisions, death roll. It was nobody we knew, he wasn't on there." She choked up, unable to continue. Swallowing, she attempted. "How could he lose?"

"He didn't. He won, but died so he could win." Hisagi tried to explain, but found even he was confused by what he said. What was he trying to say? He had no idea, but whatever it was, it wouldn't have helped anyway. He had no idea how the fifth seat could have lost either. He had one of the most powerful Zanpaktou's he had ever seen. Oh, that's right, it was a secret. But he used it didn't he? The flowers he saw falling...? But maybe he was distracted, he made a mistake, underestimated the hollow, and the hollow saw the opening. The burst of reiatsu from Ikkaku! That must be it! It caught his attention and... Hisagi made a mental note never, ever mention this to Ikkaku. He was upset enough, it would kill him to think that he may have been the cause of his best friend's death. Actually, don't mention it to anyone, it may find its way back to him. Somehow.

Reaching out, he took the silently crying woman's hand in his, silently comforting her.

* * *

_Night had long fallen over Rukongai, stars blinking in the dark sky. The moon was new, completely in shadow, no light to illuminate the dark town. _

_A Bald man stalked the streets, sword over his shoulders, and a scowl that could scare the living daylights out of the bravest man plastered on his face. He glanced around, looking for someone who didn't cower at the sight of him. No such luck here. His reputation proceeded him, everybody seemed to know who he was, Madarame Ikkaku, and what he was. _

_A Fight-obsessed, sake-loving, fighter. One who had no mercy and had killed many in his search. His search for the one who could defeat him._

_People scuffled from the road when they saw that he was coming, out of the way, and those on the side of the road eyed him suspiciously and with fear clear in their eyes. _

"_Hey, what do you think you're doing?" A loud voice came from one of the side streets, followed by a loud yelp and a thud._

'Perfect._' Ikkaku thought, a wide grin forming. But as he rounded the corner, ready to beat up the gang cornering someone, he was met with a pair of violet eyes. He staggered back slightly, as did the owner of said eyes, both a little shocked. Ikkaku looked at who was in front of him. _

_Standing before him, arms crossed over his chest, looking quite miffed, was what looked like a teenage boy. He was shorter than Ikkaku, with a thin frame, one that didn't look strong enough to beat those huge thugs, covered by a plain black Kimono with a subtle dark blue leaf pattern, which could barely be seen in the darkness. If it wasn't for the annoyed expression, actually even with the annoyed face, he had a very beautiful face, for a boy. Like a angel, a black angel, with his long dark hair framing his face._

"_Can I help you?" The boy asked indignantly, raising an eyebrow._

"_You beat them?" Ikkaku asked, gesturing the pile of bodies behind the black-haired boy._

"_I might have done." He smirked, slightly, though his eyes still screamed annoyance. "Either way, I need to go." He tried to side-step the bald man._

"_You seem to be a pretty strong fighter." Ikkaku stated, blocking his path._

"_Look, if you're looking for a fight, go somewhere else." He said. "I'm tired, hungry, and need to find somewhere to sleep before tomorrow." He looked up. "Too late for that." He muttered. "Past midnight already. But I'm still not fighting. Maybe some other time." He ducked quickly under the bald's arm, waving behind him as he walked into the night. _

"_At least tell me who you are." Ikkaku called. The boy turned, light from the neighbouring houses glinting off his eyes._

"_Yumichika." He said, smiling. "Ayasegawa Yumichika. And you?"_

"_Madarame Ikkaku."_

"_I'll look you up." He grinned, before turning and continuing his walk into the darkness._

_Ikkaku grinned. '_Yumichika, huh.'

* * *

Bright morning sunlight shone through the blinds, casting a warm light across the room, warming it's only occupant.

Ikkaku rolled onto his side, facing away from the light, not wanting to wake just yet, wanting instead to stay in his dream, away from reality, away from the light. He mumbled something incoherent, before slowly opening his eyes, regaining consciousness after a day of sleeping. He tried to move again, but found he was aching too much, his arms and legs stiff.

"Ow." He muttered when he tried to push himself up, only to find his arms failing, and he dropped back to the bed, face in the pillow. He closed his eyes, the dream coming back to him once more. Only more faded, he couldn't make out details. Everything was blurred, nothing clear, apart from a pair of softly glowing wisteria eyes.

Yumichika!

He shot up, ignoring the aches and pains in his muscles, but found the sudden rush of blood too much to handle, and he dropped his head in his hands, dizzy.

Yumichika, he was... His brain didn't want to think about it, didn't want to remember the pain he had felt so clearly only twenty-four hours prior. His heart pounded achingly in his chest, then stopped altogether when he glanced to his left, seeing the broken sword on the low table. He felt himself freeze, his breath catching in his throat, staring at the light purple handle and what was left of the blade. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't...

With a shaking hand, he reached out for the sword, fingers closing around the cold hilt. Picking up the light object, he swallowed thickly, feeling quite sick. He brought to his lap, running his thumb across the soft material that covered most of the hilt. He was so out of it, he didn't even notice the door opening, and a small figure slipping in.

"I'm sorry." The high voice made him jump, and he looked up, wide-eyed, at the intruder. Hayashi Aimi stood, head bowed, by the bed.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." She repeated, looking up. It was only then did Ikkaku recognise her.

"You're..." He trailed off, looking away.

"I was the one who tried to heal Ayasegawa-san yesterday morning. I failed, I'm sorry." She said, trying to be formal, but just wanting to break down for failing him, for seeing the strong eleventh divisioner so miserable.

"He's really gone, isn't he?" Ikkaku asked, staring out the window at the rolling white clouds against the pale blue sky.

"I-" Aimi cut herself off before she could say 'I'm sorry' for the fourth time. "I'm afraid so."

With those three words, Ikkaku felt his world shattering for the third time in just over twenty four hours. He stared at the white bed sheet, staring, but not really seeing anything, his mind in a dazed jumble. However much he tried to deny it in his head, the memory of Yumichika's fading body in his arms forced its way into his head, the broken blade in his lap serving as a brutal reminder of the previous day's tragedy.

He was so distant, he didn't even notice Aimi bow and take her leave, the door quietly clicking shut.

This can't be happening, this just can't be happening, Ikkaku thought, closing his eyes as the clouds moved, revealing the bright sunlight through his window once more. It all felt unreal, like it wasn't really happening. He was still in a dream, that had to be it, he was dreaming. It was all a horrible nightmare. When he opened his eyes, he'll be back in his room, , Yumichika, having just woken up, blearily looking at him from the next futon over.

But when he opened his eyes, he was still in the hospital, on his own. In the silence. He dropped his head into his hands, or at least tried to, but found himself hitting himself with a hard object. He looked down at the light purple hilt, running his hand over the cold metal of what was left of the blade.

_He's gone. _Ikkaku thought._ He's really gone. He's not coming back, not this time, not like all the other times before._ The true meaning of what Aimi had told him hit him, and hit him hard. He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat, eyes becoming wet with tears, which slowly and silently streamed down his face. He didn't move, no dramatic sobs or shaking with sorrow, he simply sat there, droplets of water dripping from his chin, the soft cotton soaking them up quickly.

And so, with his world crumbling, caving in on him, he found for the first time, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Where am I?_ A pair of pale purple eyes opened, but were unable to see anything in the darkness_

_All he could see was blackness, even though he could feel his eyes open. His body was feeling strangely floaty, like he was drifting in the sea, under the surface. The pain he could so clearly remember in his chest was gone, and a strange warmth could be felt spreading throughout his body. He closed his eyes, trying to remember why he was here, wherever here was. _

_What had happened to him? _

_He tried to cast his mind back to the events that had led him here. He remembered an emergency bell, hollows attacking every wall of Serietei, fighting. And then there was that one creature, it couldn't be killed with physical strength, only kidou.... and then what happened?_

_Suddenly a bright light broke through his eyelids, and he opened his eyes, only to close them again, shielding against the dazzling white light. _

"_What the...?" he asked when the light dies enough for him to be able to open his eyes without being blinded._

"_Ayasegawa Yumichika." A soft melodic voice split the silence. _

"_Who are you?" Yumichika called out, before sighing as he realised just what was happening. "I died, didn't I?" He asked quietly. _

"_Yes. But I have seen the war that will soon hit the earth. Your power will soon be needed." The voice said._

"_How am I going to...? I'm dead." _

"_You will be reincarnated in the mortal world, as a human, with your memories from this life. But, to do this, there is a impediment."_

"_Of course." Yumichika murmured._

"_You will not have your Zanpaktou, you must find a way to get that back from your friend, and you must not reveal yourself to anyone who may know you, other than your sister, Tanaka Mizaki, until you have achieved Bankai, which will be needed if we are to win this impending war."_

"_Okay, and this is the only way to be reincarnated with my memories and power intact?" He asked, thinking hard. Was it worth it? Was she telling the truth? But at that moment he had no other choice, he had to go with what she offering. "Alright."_

_A small shining light appeared on his wrist, at the base of his palm. When the light finally died he looked down, seeing a small glowing symbol, which quickly turned black. The thin lines together formed the Kanji symbol for 'destiny'._

"_What?" He looked up, but the light was gone, and blackness once again filled his vision. A searing heat soared through his body, and he curled up, pain filling his mind._

_And then...there was nothing.

* * *

_

**A/N: I'm not hugely happy with this chapter, but I've rewritten and read though it so many times now I don't care, just deal with it. **

**Okay, who saw the latest bleach episode? I can't wait till tuesday, it looks like there'll be more Yumichika scenes (I hope) ^-^ Looking forward to it =D**

** As I said before, there will be more flashbacks coming, and I really need ideas, if anyone has any Ikkaku and yumichika past scenes they want to see in here (they can be happy, angsty, or even an argument) please send me a PM or leave it in the review, I have no ideas at all. Thank you ^-^  
**


	3. The Final Goodbye

**Update ^^ Yay, I had so much work to do over half-term, I had no time at all to write, most was written this evening (It's 12:30 *yawn*) So I apologize in advance for the many mistakes I just know are in there but haven't been sorted out, I will try to at some point. Enjoy this chapter ^-^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm simply borrowing the characters, and will give them back........eventually =D**

**

* * *

**

The next month went slowly, a little...too slowly for some.

Soul society recovered quickly after the last attack, most were healed and ready within the first week. Even those not so fortunate were out of the Fourth Division before the month was up. Many were lucky, the hollows were stronger than usual, stronger than expected, but many divisions got off without too many major casualties. Of course there were deaths, there always were, all lower and unseated officers, nothing too important.... Apart from one.

The news of the death of the Eleventh Squads fifth seat spread fast, first throughout the eleventh and the ninth, then the tenth, and eventually the whole of Serietei knew.

Zaraki, at first, was shocked by the news, he stood shock still in the middle of the fourth division for a good ten minutes before Yachiru's wailing finally got through to him. Once he had come back to his senses, he strode out of the Fourth, and back to the office, where he plucked the sobbing girl off his shoulders and placed her on the desk. She curled up, the sobs dying but tears still streaming down her face.

She spent the next few weeks quietly, which was very unnatural for her, the happy-go-lucky, hyper vice-captain of the Eleventh. Sometimes she was found underneath the desk, silently crying and mumbling that she missed her 'Weirdo-chan'. Other times she was found beating the heck out of anyone who dared even look at her with those 'stupid concerned eyes', as she so eloquently put it.

Even Zaraki was quiet at first, he wouldn't even fight for the first few days. He still barked orders and trained every so often, but there was no fighting. And it seemed the rest of the squad followed suit.

The entire division was quiet for the first time. Even the bars they went to regularly were almost empty. For most it was simply out of respect, not many had really know the vain shinigami, only those that did really found the first few days hard.

But it wasn't too long before the division was back to normal, the bars began to fill up again. Even the captain was back to his fight loving self after a week. Yachiru took a little longer, and even once she felt better there were times when she would become suddenly depressed, or go into a rage so terrifying many were submitted into the fourth simply from fear, much less injuries.

Of course Kenpachi spent the next few weeks complaining about the constant sympathetic looks he was getting from most of the captains (At least the ones that showed expression). Especially when he had a quiet Yachiru on his shoulder.

The eleventh wasn't the only division affected. The third, sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth found themselves with no lieutenants for a while, most of them in the fourth division from over drinking most nights, or more than usual anyway.

It just goes to show, even though he was as annoying as heck sometimes, and had a habit on getting on people's nerves with his 'beauty' talk, Yumichika had managed to worm his way into everyone's hearts.

After the initial depression state was over, they found their worry for Ikkaku growing every day.

Since he was released from the fourth division, Ikkaku had spent the next few weeks locked up in his room, depression taking over his mind once the true meaning of the whole incident fully hit him.

The day of release, a week after the battle (Unohana had wanted to keep him in for emotional reasons) Matsumoto and Hisagi led the silent shinigami back to his room, the medical shinigami thinking recovery might be faster in a familiar environment. Upon seeing the two futons still laid out on the floor, and everything still in its place, Hisagi began to think that may not have been a good idea, especially when he saw the bald man shock still, rocking back and forth slightly upon the sight.

But he would have had to face it sooner or later, perhaps seeing the emptiness and facing the truth sooner may be better, it would help him get over the loss faster, so they could all get on with their lives, as insensitive as that may sound.

Once they left the man in peace, he broke down, finally on his own.

What was strange though was that he didn't break in the way everybody, including himself, thought he would. Which was by destroying everything in sight, shinigami or object, until his depression finally died and people could come out of hiding.

But instead, he found himself laying down on Yumichika's futon, silently letting the emotion and memories wash over him, unable to fight the growing feeling inside of him.

'_I'm never going to see him again.'_ he thought, letting his eyes close as he buried his face in the pillow, breathing the lingering scent in deeply. He never could quite describe the smell. It was sweet but not flowery, almost like the smell of Yachiru's candy, but maybe not quite as strong. It was something he just couldn't place.

He wondered how long it would linger on his old clothes before fading away. He sighed deeply, turning his head so he was facing the window.

He would never see that smile, or hear that laugh. Heck, he was even going to miss his annoying little quirks. His obsession with beauty, his stubbornness (Which could easily match his own, if not more so), and the funny way he would get annoyed about things.

But then, without those things, Yumichika just wouldn't be Yumichika.

What was he going to do? What he was doing now? This was being damn wimpy. And yet, he found he could do nothing else, he just did not have the energy to do much else.

He didn't know why it had taken him this long for the full force of the death to truly hit him. The smaller shinigami had died in own arms, why had he denied it so?

He could feel his eyes becoming wet with tears. He had cried more in the past week than he had ever cried before in his whole afterlife. Had Yumichika really meant so much to him?

That question was easy to answer.

Yes, of course Yumichika had meant a lot to him. As cheesy and as sappy as it may sound, Yumi was his whole world, his best friend, closer than any family he could ever have. And that made this harder than ever. Of course he had lost people before, friends, family. And yet he had never seemed so down as he did now.

A warm evening breeze blew gently though the window, wafting lightly over the bald shinigami. It almost felt... comforting, as if someone was there, trying to keep him from sinking further into his depression. Not to cheer him up, not much could do that now, but stopping him from falling further than he was.

He flipped onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

A familiar feeling surrounded him, and it almost felt as if someone was gently kissing his forehead, as a soothing warmth spread from a spot on his brow. The familiar and comfortable warmth encircled him as his eyes closed, slowly drifting into a deep, dreamless sleep, except for one voice drifting through his head.

_"Carry on fighting, but swallow your damn pride for once in your stubborn life and let the others help you, you can't fight on your own._

_Sayonara Madarame Ikkaku, I'll see you soon."_

* * *

'Now what?'_ Yumichika thought. He had expected to be reincarnated, just as the voice had said, soon after he had blacked out the last time. What was happening?_

_The blackness that surrounded him was the same as before, at least that was how it seemed. It all looked the same, how was he to know where he was?_

_But then, colour began to seep through the darkness, light and colour filling his vision. Not used to the light, Yumichika covered his eyes with an arm until he could look around without feeling as if he was about to be blinded. _

_He was met with a very familiar sight. He was standing on the roof of a high building looking over, what looked like, Serietei. For some reason his blurred memory couldn't even remember what it looked like. As Memories began to uncover in his mind, the sights became more recognizable, until his foggy mind once again became clear, and he knew exactly where he was. _

_Standing on top of the Eleventh division barracks. _

"_What the...?" He breathed, staring around. "Why am I here?" He asked aloud. _

"_I have allowed you to see your friend one last time." A melodic voice echoed in his head, almost making him jump. "But he will not see you, nor will he hear you. I am unable to do that." Yumichika recognized the voice as the one that spoke to him before. "I am allowing you this chance to say goodbye, because of the strong bond you share. I'm sure you know your way. You only have fifteen minutes before you are pulled from this world into your new life. Use them wisely." The voice faded. _

_This was his last chance to see Ikkaku before he was reincarnated, before he became a child in the human world. Shunpo-ing off the roof he headed to the first place he would expect Ikkaku to be. His old home._

_He landed silently on the windowsill, even though he knew he would not be heard. The net curtains fluttered slightly, as if from a breeze._

_A glance around the room showed that everything was still in its place, nothing had been moved since the day of the attack. Looking down at the floor where their futons were laid out, he saw Ikkaku Laying on Yumichika's, rather than his own, staring at the wall, a blank expression on his face._

_Yumichika's heart clenched, his stomach dropping a few inches. He dropped to the floor, quietly padding to the futon, before kneeling by the bald man, who flipped onto his back to stare blankly at the ceiling. _

"_I suppose I should say goodbye." He murmured. "I know I'll see you again, but, I just don't want to leave, who knows where I'll end up. Or who with." He shuddered. "Nothing could be better than travelling, living and fighting side-by-side with you." He sighed, leaning down and leaving a gentle kiss on the man's forehead. He watched as the brown eyes closed and his breathing even out, before saying a few more lines. "Don't spend the rest of your life like this, carry on fighting, but swallow your damn pride for once in your stubborn life and let the others help you, you can't fight on your own." He stood, staring down at his sleeping friend._

"_Sayonara Madarame Ikkaku, I'll see you soon." With a soft smile, he felt himself slowly fading, the world once again falling into darkness.

* * *

_

"Mizaki, honey."

Tanaka Mizaki looked up from her book at her adoptive mother since she came to the world of the living. The woman was laying on a hospital bed, a newborn child nestled in blankets in her arms.

"Yes?"

"What shall we call him?"

Mizaki got up from her seat and perched on the bed, looking at the childs face, jet black hair and shocking violet eyes. She smiled softly.

"Yumichika." she said gently. "Nakamura Ayasegawa Yumichika." _  
_

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* * *

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**A/N: Not a huge fan of the ending, it's a little rushed. Sorry everyone's so depressed and sad, but I promise things will get better from here. Due to the amount of work I'm getting in graphics and Textiles, I may not be updating for a while, but I'll try my best to get as much done as possible. **

**Also there is a poll about certain relationships of this story on my page, please do go vote... and review, reviews make me happy ^^  
**


	4. Family History

**I've got to stop uploading these things late at night, it's not good for me. Anywho, heres chapter for all you lovely people. I'll just add now, I do like replying to my reviews, and if for any reason I don't, I'm sorry, and this really is no excuse, but I do have quite a busy timetable, and I usually check my emails in the morning, see the reviews and think 'I'll reply when I get home from college' and then forget. So sorry, if I don't reply. **

**Disclaimer: As much as I would love to, I don't own any of the characters in this story, I'm only borrowing...Though I do own Mizaki.  
**

Tanaka Mizaki was currently having a staring competition with the smartest four year-old on the planet.

And she was losing.

...How humiliating.

She sighed, sitting up and tucking her long black hair behind her ear, looking round the large room, part of the huge traditional Japanese house she was now living in, right in the heart of Kyoto.

The past three years had been the most hectic she had ever had since she came to the human world ten years prior to get married.

It was a family arranged marriage, something all children in their family had to go through, unless they became a shinigami...or ran away from home...or both in the case of her twin brother. Yumichika was lucky. They had planned on running away together, a long time ago. Neither wanted to be forced into a marriage and so began saving as much as they could to take when they disappeared into the night. But when their parents presented them with their future fiancées, Mizaki had instantly fallen for hers. He was handsome, strong, had a brilliant sense of humour and was easy to talk to. Yumichika on the other hand wasn't quite as happy with his. She was beautiful yes, absolutely stunning in fact, but she had a horrible personality, not talking much, and when she did, she never had anything nice to say, always complaining, never smiling.

This resulted in a long argument, plans being ruined, and her little brother taking as much as he could carry, running away on his own.

Mizaki had cried herself to sleep that night, knowing she had lost a dear friend and brother but unable to leave her soon-to-be husband. It was too late to run after him. She had no idea where he had gone, and he had taken most of their savings. Not that it mattered now, once she was married she wouldn't need to worry about money, her future husband was from a filthy rich family, one of the reasons her parents had picked him, another being that he was a highly ranked shinigami, able to protect her.

But her fiancée passed away ten years later, only a few months before the wedding. There had been a hollow attack, she was told, and although he wasn't killed on the battlefield, he was taken over by the hollow, turned into a monster, forced to kill his subordinates, until a lower ranked shinigami, a friend of his, had to kill him to rid him of the evil spirit.

Mizaki was devastated, and spent the next few months locked in her brothers old room, crying into his pillow, or simply sitting in silence, in the dark.

The next century went past quickly, she turned down every suitor her parents picked out for her, refusing to marry. Her father, an ex-captain of the Gotei-13, finally agreed to train her in kidou and sword-fighting, on the condition that when the training was over, she would marry the man he picked out for her.

She had agreed, and was married within ten years. Unfortunately he lived in the living world, and so she was sent there to live with him, much to her horror.

She passed herself off as a fourteen year old, and was married by the time she was 'sixteen'. Her husband was always away on business, and so she stayed at home, usually alone, apart from when his adopted mother would visit, who was heavily pregnant when the two became friends.

When she died shortly after the child was born, the father put the poor child up for adoption, not being able to look after him himself. Mizaki, with no husband around much to tell her what to do, jumped at the chance, taking in the child.

She had felt an unbelievable amount of spirit energy when he was born. Spirit energy much like her own. The child even looked like her brother. Meaning there was only one explanation.

Yumichika had died, and had been reincarnated here in Kyoto.

And he was one heck of a kid to look after.

She laid down on the mat, staring at the ceiling, listening to bustle from the market from further down the street. Luckily, they were quite high up here, there were stairs leading down to the main street below, so it wasn't quite as noisy, and it was more private and closed off up here.

It was quite peaceful until she felt a constant poking at her side. Sitting up, she looked down at a impatient Yumichika.

"Come on then." She sighed, knowing exactly what he wanted. She had promised to take him to the market today. She had never taken him, it was always too busy down there, impossible to carry a one or two year old around. But now he was slightly older and could actually walk properly, Mizaki had decided to take him down to see the bright colours and busy streets of Kyoto's summer market. Of course if she had said no again, he would've made those bambi eyes at her. He had quickly discovered her weak point not long after his first birthday, and used it against her whenever he could. It worked every time.

It seems the three century old four year old was all ready to go, but all it took was for her to slip on a pair of light trainers before they stepped out into the warm summers air.

Quickly trotting down the stairs, the pair came out in a smaller side street, only a few metres from the main high street.

As soon as they were on the busy street, Mizaki grabbed the smaller's hand, not wanted to get separated here. Her fingers brushed against the soft material on his wrist. Glancing down, she noticed his pouted expression, he certainly did not like the hand holding. Moving her gaze along a little, she looked at the dark red armband that covered his right wrist, knowing what was hidden underneath. A small kanji symbol, that was there from the moment he was born. He hasn't said much about it. But then, he doesn't really speak much at all. The fact that he was still only just turned four wasn't really helping.

What she did know is the hollow attacks were beginning to increase since he arrived here. And she found she could defeat none of them with her Kanata alone. Only a well-done kidou spell could bring them down. She was lucky she had training when she was still in the Soul Society. Even the Shinigami on patrol couldn't handle the amount they were getting in Kyoto.

Mizaki was beginning to get worried. With all these hollows showing up it wouldn't be long before Soul Society sent someone stronger. And knowing their luck, it would be one of Yumichika's old friends. He had already explained to her about the deal, and how he couldn't tell anyone he was here until he had Bankai. Odd condition but they had to go with it for now, it was their only choice. But it meant bumping into them wouldn't be good,

The siblings spent the next hour walking slowly from stall to stall, admiring the handmade work, both agreeing on how beautiful some of the artwork was, and how ugly (Though this was mostly Yumi).

All was going well until a shrill voice from up ahead made the smaller of the pair freeze up, hand suddenly tightening on hers.

"What's wrong?" she asked, standing up on her toes to see over the heads. She picked out the one who was making all the noise easily.

A average height woman with light blonde hair, who was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Matsumoto." Came a small voice from her left. She looked down, then back up as the crowds cleared slightly so she could see more of the woman... and others judging by Yumichika's reaction. Which was ducking behind her, eyes poking out by her knees.

Surrounding the busty shinigami were five others.

"Who are they?" Mizaki asked behind her.

"Renji, Hisagi, Kira, Hitsugaya-tachiou and..." He trailed off, staring at a bald shinigami looking very bored at whatever it was Matsumoto had found. "...Ikkaku." He sighed, dropping his gaze to the ground.

Mizaki sighed, she had heard a little about him, not much, but enough to know how special he was to her little brother. But she knew nothing could be done about it now, and so, with a gentle nudge, she eased Yumichika off her legs and back the way they came, back home.

As soon as the door closed, Yumichika took off upstairs to his room, slamming the door. Mizaki flinched, their day ruined.

She knew somebody was bound to come sooner or later, but to send six, possibly more. Something was definitely happening. Maybe not yet, but soon she knew something was going to happen.

* * *

"Why are we here?" Ikkaku moaned, glancing round the marketplace.

"Because it looks interesting." Matsumoto reasoned, squealing as she dived for another piece of jewellery that caught her eye.

"But I thought we were here so we could..." He trailed off, eyebrows furrowing even more than they were.

"Yeah." Matsumoto said sadly, "I know, but we have to go home this evening. Just let us do a little bit of shopping before we leave."

Ikkaku sighed, staring up at the sky in exasperation. The main reason they had come was to find out about why so many hollows were attracted to this area, and try and sort out the problem by Friday. Which was today. And they hadn't gotten anywhere.

Hitsugaya had come to the conclusion that it was simply because of the amount of people who lived here and other tourists on holiday. The amount of joint spiritual energy in the area was vast, and that can easily draw hollows to the region. Even if that wasn't the reason, at least they had something to tell the Sou-Tachiou when they got back later that evening.

Another reason, at least for Ikkaku, was to look for someone.

Three years ago, when life had finally begun to go back to normal, Ikkaku began doing research as to who Tanaka Mizaki was and where he could find her. After all, that was the last thing Yumichika had asked him to do.

Find her.

Why? He still had no clue. But he had found that the Tanaka family was a rich business family in Kyoto in the living world. They had sort of link to shinigami, the family's head was able to see spirits and had become friends with the shinigami on duty a long time ago.

He had no idea why Yumichika would send him there, nor how he knew anyone from Kyoto, they had never been there on missions or whatever. But for now, he had no choice but to go along, check it out and find out if anyone by the name of Mizaki belonged to that family.

But that hope was fading fast. It was already late afternoon, and it didn't look like they were leaving the market anytime soon.

He sighed in annoyance as Matsumoto squealed again.

A flash of purple and black caught his attention to his right. Standing only a few feet away was a young girl. She looked about sixteen or eighteen, with straight long dark hair that hung loose down to her waist, with a thin, lightweight frame, she looked weak, but could be fast. Two large amethyst eyes flashed in the light as she bent down to tend to a small child behind her. Her long hair fell like a curtain in front of the small boy, so Ikkaku missed what he looked like, but the girl...

She looked so familiar, so...

...Much like Yumichika.

"...kaku. Ikkaku!"

"Huh?" Ikkaku looked around, seeing everyone staring at him.

"You were completely spacing out. You okay?" Renji asked, leaning in slightly and looking at the bald shinigami with a confused expression on his face. Said bald shinigami smacked the redhead round the back of the head.

"I'm fine you idiot. Are we done here?" He asked.

Matsumoto looked around at the thinning crowd. "I think we are, we better head back though, give us enough time to get home." She sighed, smiling widely. "Unless you have anywhere you want to go?"

Ikkaku thought hard, or at least as hard as he could without hurting himself. It was either go back now and not find out anything, or stay for another hour and probably not find anything anyway.

"Let's just get home." He said. As everyone, began to head towards the exit, Ikkaku allowed himself one last look behind him at the retreating figures of a girl and a little boy with long midnight black hair.

* * *

_"Let us go." A low voice hissed in the darkness. "We will find him, we will bring him here with no difficulty." The voice chuckled, but was cut off quickly when a low growl echoed in the black of the room._

_"I'm sure you would." The voice growled. "But it is still too early, we need his power, and until he realises how powerful he is, and that he is not afraid to use that power, we have no use for him." A small shuffle was heard, and sigh reverberated around the large room. "Too early and he will refuse to learn, refuse to grow more powerful."_

_"Of course, my master, we shall wait." Another voice, slightly higher than the first. "We shall wait."_

_"Yes, wait my faithful servants... We will take our revenge."

* * *

_

**A/N: Okay, so the ending was a little cliche, but I couldn't think of how do write it, so it'll have to do. **

**So...Ikkaku finally sees Yumi, but, of course, doesn't know it. I had to guess ages etc. but if they ever come clean about how old they actually are I will change that, as unlikely as that would be. Next chapter will probably fast forward a few years or so, not much is really going to happen ^^ **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please do review. And the poll is still up, please vote, I want to know what you think I should do. Thanks ^-^  
**


	5. To The Soul Society!

**Here you go, chapter 5. Sorry it's taken so long, I've been busy, and haven't had that much inspiration to write. Anywho, it's here now, hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious? I own nothing in this story (Except Mizaki and Momoko ^-^)

* * *

**

"Yumichika!" A high pitched voice rung out across the school grounds. "Wait up."

A now ten year old Yumichika growled low. "Momoko." Of all the luck.

The past ten years have possibly been the worst in his life. Sure, living with Mizaki was good. It had been a long time since he had seen his sister properly, and even longer still since he had last spoken to her.

But he was a freaking kid! It was....just.... he hated it. Being treated like the age he looked when in reality he was much, much older than anyone here. Of course they couldn't know that, and of course they would treat him as the age they saw him. But it was still so infuriating. And then there was the fact that he had to go to school. What was the point? He didn't belong here. He spent every other hour of his day training, eating and sleeping. Schoolwork simply didn't fit in with the rest of his life. He just didn't have a use for it.

Because of the training, homework was pushed to the side, never getting done. So he was constantly in trouble for not working outside school, and ended up in detention a lot, which he skipped. Mizaki got quite annoyed whenever she got called in to talk to the teacher about it. Usually she took Yumichika's side, and, if it wasn't for the fact that education was compulsory, would have pulled him out years ago. Besides, it's seemed to have improved his social skills.

Slightly.

"Hey, Yumi." Momoko ran up next to him, a goofy smile on her face. She was tall for her age, almost a head taller than Yumichika, with short mousey brown hair, dark eyes, large round glasses and quite a strange personality, in a way, which got her bullied a lot. Nothing seemed to upset her in any way though, she simply ignored everyone when they were making fun of her, constantly smiling. Yumichika asked her at one point why nothing ever got to her. Her reply was simple:

"It does, I just choose not to show it. If I do, they make it worse, because they like causing pain."

He found a new respect for the girl that day. Even if he did find her quite annoying.

"Hello." Yumichika said politely, forcing a smile on his face. He had not been having the greatest day, to tell the truth, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep. But he knew that wasn't the case, Mizaki would most likely keep him up to some ungodly hour in the morning banging those kidou spells into his skull.

"Just wondering if you wanted to come over tonight?" Momoko asked, walking backwards so she could face him. "We have pancakes." She tempted, grinning.

"I can't, I'm sorry. I have to be home." Yumichika tried to explain. Although the idea was becoming more and more inviting. He had been working non-stop for the past six years. Why couldn't he have this one break? It was only fair. "Well...Maybe." He said slowly. Momoko's grin grew wider, if at all possible.

"You have to ask your sister right?" She asked at his hesitation.

"Yeah. Do you want to stop off at my house first? I want to get changed anyway."

"Sure." Momoko said happily.

Yumichika let himself and Momoko into the large house, the tall brunette gaping at the size of it.

"Yumichika? That you?" A voice called from another room, before a body joined the voice as Mizaki padded into the hall. "We need to get on with- oh."She stopped when she saw the gaping girl next to her little brother.

"Oh, yeah, can we start a little later?" Yumichika asked, dropping his bag onto the floor. "Momoko asked me over, and I was hoping to have a little break." He looked at her expectantly. Mizaki thought about it, her face neutral, before she yanked the boy out of the room with an apologetic smile to Momoko, who looked a little awkward.

"But what about your training?" She hissed once they were out of earshot.

"What _about_ my training?" Yumichika hissed back. "I haven't had a moment to myself for so long, you've kept me up till early in the morning training. This morning for example. Can you just give me this one break, I'll eat at Momoko's if it's okay with them, and then we'll just carry on when I get home." He paused. "Besides all this work is doing nothing for my looks you know." Mizaki rolled her eyes, but knew exactly what he was going on about. They were twins after all, she had the same ideals as Yumichika. She just chose not to flaunt it as much.

Mizaki looked sceptical. Then her face fell, and she sighed. "Alright, alright, just call off the puppy eyes already." She led him back into the hall, where Momoko was examining one of the paintings on the wall. She jumped and spun quickly around when she heard the door slide open.

"I want him back by seven, got it?" Mizaki said, smiling at the ten year old girl, who grinned back. Yumichika quickly ran upstairs, got changed into a pair of black jeans, shirt and sweater, pulled a brush through his hair, and scurried back downstairs, vanishing out the front door, Momoko following with a slight wave and a 'It was nice to meet you Tanaka-san.' To Mizaki.

Mizaki sighed, smiling softly as she shut the door. Maybe school was helping the kid's social life. He certainly didn't look like he was being dragged over to that girl's house unwillingly, so perhaps it was a good thing he was going.

She padded into the living room she had set up. Cushions and bean bags were strewn all over the room, two long couches, and one single seat sofa surrounded the fluffy rug, fireplace and Television. She had managed to get a hold of this one room in the house when she moved in after the wedding, and turn it into a cosy relaxation room. Being a highly thought of family, the rest of the house was quite bare and formal, which Mizaki hated, but had to live with. She smiled smugly as she wrapped her yutaka tighter around herself, grabbing a blanket and a phone, and curled up against numerous pillows on the smaller of the long seats.

She punched in a few numbers, before bringing the small phone to her ear.

_Hello._

"Hey Kisuke, it's Mizaki. Yes I'm fine thanks. Now, I do believe you owe me a favour."

* * *

"Oi, Kid, stop fidgeting." Mizaki hissed at the small boy sitting in front of her on the train.

Yumichika glared up at her, playing with the pull strings on the hooded sweater he was wearing. He wasn't happy about being called a kid, never has been, and the fact that Mizaki had started wasn't helping his bad mood. He was only a few minutes younger than her for crying out loud!

"I know your nervous honey, but we need to do this. You'll never achieve Bankai at this rate, and you know enough to be able to go and get that Zanpaktou of yours." Mizaki said, turning to glance out the window at the blurred scenery, before turning back to her little brother. She sighed, rolling her eyes at the scowl the kid was wearing, the early wake up call probably wasn't helping his bad mood, .

The rest of the journey was uneventful after that, Yumichika had a hard time staying awake, and found himself drifting off, head against the cold glass of the window. Mizaki wondered to herself how he could sleep like that, it must be really uncomfortable. But she didn't question it when he woke up, she was sure it was far more comfy than sleeping on the streets, which he must have done after he left home.

An hour later Mizaki stepped off the train, a sleepy Yumichika close behind.

Stepping out into a blast of cold winter air however, woke him up quickly, and he gave a sharp hiss as he shivered, pulling his scarf up around the lower half of his face. He had no idea where they were, nor why they were here. He just followed Mizaki in a sort of daze after she dragged him out of bed at some ungodly hour that morning.

'_Welcome to Karakura station'_ a tinny voice echoed around the station.

It took the still sleepy ten year old a few moments for the words to process in his mind. Karakura? Why did it ring a bell? He knew he had...

"Oh you did not!" He growled out when he realised just where they were.

Mizaki turned around and grinned. "Sorry, it's the only way to get to Soul society with only a small chance of being caught." She winked. "Besides, that Urahara owes me one heck of a favour, so I organised with him to let us into Soul Society with no strings attached."

"Right, okay, and how are we gonna get through without him finding out who I am? Part of the contract was to not tell anyone." He held up his hand to prove his point, where a small kanji symbol adorned his wrist.

Mizaki sighed. "Simple, you're already doing it." Yumichika looked confused. "The scarf, we'll sort you out with a proper outfit when you've separated from your body, but you get the idea." She explained, leading him out the station. They wandered down the empty streets, it was still only six in the morning.

It wasn't long before they were standing outside the Urahara Shoten, shivering in the cold winters morning. Mizaki stepped forward first, reaching forward to slide open the door, quickly ducking to avoid the object aimed at her head. Yumichika had to jump out of the way of the flying... thing. He couldn't see what it was before it bounced out of sight.

Mizaki stood slowly, her face a picture of annoyance.

"Right, who's throwing things?" She said into the darkness of the shop, though she knew too well who was throwing random objects at her.

"Who's knocking on the door at six in the morning?" Came a low voice inside.

"Oh shut your mouth, you're up aren't you? I did warn you yesterday the time we would be here." She said, turning and kneeling to make sure the scarf was pulled up and secure around her little brothers face. She didn't know what would happen were they to tell anyone he was here, but she didn't want to risk anything. "Let's get this over with, 'kay?" she said in a low voice. Yumichika simply glared at her over the hem of the scarf.

She grinned, standing up and leading the smaller into the dark shop. She flicked on the lights to see Kisuke Urahara sitting at the low table smiling knowingly at the pair. Hearing a quiet groan from below, Mizaki put a gentle hand on the young shinigami's shoulder.

"Hello, this is...." She trailed off.

"Didn't think this through did you?" Yumichika hissed, glaring up at her.

"My little brother-in-law." Mizaki finished, smiling. She was telling the truth for once.... kind of. Now for the proper lie. "Just Tanaka-san for him, he doesn't like people knowing his name till he knows them properly."

Urahara grinned. "Well then, as much as I would like to stay and catch up," A smug grin from Mizaki made him stop nervously, "the Senkaimon is ready, you two just need to go down and sort yourselves out. You know what you're doing r-i-ght?" He finished, dragging out the 'I'. "I have things to do up here, so you're free to do whatever you want down there."

"And what are you doing? Sleeping?" Mizaki asked, which was replied simply with a grin, she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." She sighed, leading her brother down to where the door to soul society was.

"This is not going to be fun." Yumichika said once the door was closed and he could take his scarf off.

"Yeah, well," Mizaki started searching through her bag for something. "Nobody said life was fun. Somebody up there just decided to make yours just _that_ much more difficult." She said, finally pulling out a long purple tube. "Got it!" She tipped out two pills from the tube and slipped it back in the pocket. "Here." She threw the small pill at Yumichika.

He looked at the little sphere, then up at Mizaki. He still wasn't sure about this. "What if this doesn't work?" He asked, sceptical.

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Fine." He said, smiling a little in spite of himself. He put the pill in his mouth and swallowed. There was a strange sensation of being split in half and suddenly he was looking back at himself, shocked expressions mirrored on both faces. He stepped back, looking down at himself. "Wow, it actually worked." He was wearing the standard shinigami robes, none of the usual accessories, but then those would have given him away instantly.

"Why so surprised?" Mizaki said smugly, throwing a large piece of brown material at him. "It's probably got something to do with that symbol on your wrist."

He opened it out, finding it was a hooded cloak. "Okay then, um...." he quickly tied it round his neck. Mizaki knelt in front of him, and tied a triangle of the same fabric round the lower half of his face. "Thought of everything didn't you?" Yumichika smirked, his voice coming out slightly muffled.

"Of course." Mizaki said, as if was the most obvious thing in the world, turning back to her bag. She pulled out a similar cloak, without the hood.

Yumichika looked at the entrance nervously. He tried to think back to all the Kidou Mizaki had taught him over the years. He knew a majority of the hundreds of spells there were, even a few of the high level ones, even if he couldn't quite get them right just yet, if at all.

Suddenly the date came to mind. Couldn't tell why, just something nagged at the back of his mind that today was important in some way. He couldn't exactly remember the date today, but he knew it was November 30th two days ago, which would make it December 2nd today. He made a few calculations in his head.

"Ready to go?" Mizaki broke him out of his thoughts, coming to stand beside him. "I've told the Mod Souls to hide in a place they won't be found. It's time to get out of here." She grinned down at him.

He stared ahead, into the empty space of the Senkaimon. "Do you know what today is?" He asked, not moving.

Mizaki thought hard, trying to remember if today was of any importance. "No, I don't."

Yumichika sighed sadly, looking up at her with large amethyst eyes.

"This time ten years ago...I was dying."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if none of that made sense, College is dumping me with so much work, I've only had time to write every few evenings, so it's probably got loads of mistakes.**

**Next chapter things start heating up, at last. Thank You to my reviewers (I love you lot ^-^), and the readers, I hope you keep reading from here. Xmas holidays start on Friday, and although I'm going to have a lot of work, I'll make sure to get at least two chapters up, depending on the amount of work Graphics decides to load on us.**

**Please keep reviewing, they bring inspiration to my writing, which should equal faster updates ^-^  
**


	6. The Break In

**A/N: Well, I had hoped to get this out on Christmas, but so much has happened over the past week, I haven't been able to get much done, And with two exams and two lots of coursework due in soon, I'm afraid this may be it for at least a month or two...maybe, if I can I can squeeze in a little amount of writing in the evenings when I'm taking a break, and get the next chapter out earlier.**

**Happy New year people, Hope it's a good one for all of you ^-^**

**Disclaimer: Does it look as if I own anything. Mizaki is the only character I own, and everything else is owned by Tite Kubo, I'm simply borrowing.  
**

* * *

"Ikkaku!" A High pitched voice whined from outside the door. "Come on! You can't stay in there all day!" Matsumoto pounded the door a few times, trying to make her point. Silence came from inside the room.

He was ignoring her.

And everyone knows Matsumoto hates to be ignored.

She growled low, resting her head against the smooth wood. And she thought her captain was stubborn. This was ridiculous.

It had been exactly ten years, ten long years since Yumichika had died. And for one day a year, this day to be particular, Ikkaku would lock himself in his room and spend the day depressed, thinking only of his friend. Everyone understood for the first few years, but now this was getting stupid. They, i.e. Renji, Hisagi, Kira, and anyone else who managed to get themselves roped in (Usually against their will, but that's another story), spent nearly two years getting Ikkaku back to his usual self. It was a long and painful (Both mental and physical) struggle, but it had been done, somehow. Zaraki was glad for it, he got his third seat back, and Yachiru was glad to get her chew toy back.

But even then he would spend 2nd December alone and depressed, for the next eight years.

They had tried everything to get him out. Promises of a fight, sake, another fight, more sake, but nothing.

So, their latest tactic, send in the most stubborn woman in Soul Society.

"I don't want to drag you out Ikkaku. That'll be embarrassing for both of us." She said. "So I suggest you come out."

Nothing.

She changed tactic, sighing deeply.

"Look Ikkaku, I know you're hurting, and I...I know how hard it is to lose someone so close to you. But, if you would just let us help you, let yourself lean on others for once in your stubborn life, maybe that would make it easier...On all of us...This is just as hard for us as it is for you. We lost a dear friend that day too, and it hurts to see you like this." She sighed again, leaning against the wall by the door. "if you want us to help, give you somebody to talk to, we won't tell a soul, and we'll be just outside, enjoying the snow."

And with that she slowly walked back the way she had come from, listening intently for any movement from the room until she was out of earshot, in the snowy courtyard.

"I gave up." She said as she wandered towards the group. Renji, Shuuhei, Kira, Iba and Rukia had gathered to find out the result of their plan. Well, Rukia wasn't, she had just come across the group earlier and decided to stick around, she didn't really know the bald shinigami well, but she was still worried. They looked shocked at the result of their scheme, it should have worked, nobody had ever been able to turn down Matsumoto. "We're just going to have to wait him out." She explained, sitting down on the wall that lined the small yard.

As soon as had gotten comfy on a dry spot, the alarm bells began to ring, signalling for the captains and vice-captains to get to an emergency meeting, and for everyone else to be on alert.

"Why?" Matsumoto moaned. "I wanted to enjoy the snow."

"I'm sure it'll still be here when this is over." Hisagi said. "Come on." And with that the five vice-captains flash-stepped towards the meeting, leaving Rukia on her own.

"Fine then, leave me." She muttered sourly, flash-stepping to her own division to see what the fuss was about.

* * *

Ikkaku jumped when the alarm bells began ringing, and sat up, looking round the dark room, fuzzy mind trying to work out what was going on.

Alarm...bells...?

_Ah, Ryokya most likely. _He thought once his mind slowly began working again. Attempting to block out the stupid ringing, he laid back down, turning on his side and pulling a pillow round his head to cover his ears. Today was not the best for this sort of thing, if he did end up fighting, he knew he wouldn't be at his best. It was probably sensible just to ignore it.

Which he did, for the next five hours, long into the evening, he could hear footsteps running to and fro outside the room in the courtyard, and over the roof, and even once or twice heard his name being yelled out by someone in the yard outside. Sounded like Matsumoto... of course.

It felt like an eternity before peace finally fell upon Serietei, and Ikkaku welcomed the quietness, slowly drifting off. Every now and again he heard guards patrolling outside, implying the Ryokya hadn't left the city just yet, and were still out there somewhere.

As he drifted further into sleep-land, he silently hoped the intruders wouldn't be caught before morning came, and that they were decent fighters, after today, he needed a good fight...

* * *

"Alright genius, now what?" Yumichika hissed from behind Mizaki, who was staring at something beyond their hiding place, a stubborn and thoughtful look on her face. The pair were just outside the city, trying to figure out how to get past the guards at the eastern wall.

"Not sure, but they seemed to have gotten distracted." She said, turning back to look down at her little brother. "If we can move over there slightly, the guard seems to have moved to have a little chat, but we need to move fast."

"Then why are we still here? I'm following you on this one."

Mizaki turned and stared at Yumichika in shock. He was following her, he was _trusting_ her? That was a shock, it had taken a while, after what she had done to him a century ago, he was slow to trust her again when they met again ten years prior, even if he was only a child, and couldn't do much for the first few years. Just trusting her to get them in wasn't much, but it was certainly a start.

"Okay then, let's go." She said, seeing a window that could only last so long. Running fast, the pair sped towards the wall, Mizaki pressing herself against it and putting her hands together to give the smaller a boost up. But there was no one there _to_ give a boost to. Mizaki, looked around, thinking he may have been caught or been left behind. She saw no one, and the guards still hadn't noticed them. She looked up, not expecting much, but ended up seeing Yumichika's smirking face looking straight at her over the edge of the wall.

"Wha...? How...?" She gaped up at him. He simply smirked wider and disappeared from view. "Stupid kid." She muttered, glancing quickly at the guards before jumping up herself.

"Did you actually think I didn't really remember how to do that?" Yumichika grinned at her as she leapt up next to him. His grin slowly disappeared as he looked out over the city. _This was once my home._ He thought, sighing deeply. _It's been ten years since then. _

"Well, are we going?" Mizaki said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "You know this place far more than I do." He looked up at her, eyebrows raised. Pulling up the cloth over the lower half of his face, he leapt onto the first building, Mizaki following close behind.

No sooner after his foot touched the building did he hear shout from somewhere to his right. Turning swiftly on his heel, he dodged the sharp object thrown at him, nearly falling off the roof in the process. He could feel long fingers close around his wrist, and suddenly he was being jerked forwards, Mizaki pulling him away from the attacker.

"I can run myself thanks." He yelled. Mizaki quickly let go, both siblings hearing the yell of 'Intruder!' from behind.

It didn't take long to lose their pursuers, the alarm bells began ringing as soon as word of their intrusion reached the captains, pulling everyone back to their respective divisions.

Breathing hard, the pair hid in a dark alleyway, backs pressed against the wall until the danger had passed for them.

"Not the welcome you really would've wanted, is it?" Mizaki said, a small laugh escaping her as she fought to catch her breath.

"Not really. But then it was to be expected." Yumichika chuckled slightly, leaning against the wall. "They have no idea who we are."

"Speaking of which, do you know _where_ we are?"

Yumichika looked up. "Um..." He looked around. Standing fully he walked to the corner and cautiously looked out. "No idea." He said back. "But, we got in over the eastern wall, south of the gate. Meaning...we should most likely be in the tenth division, maybe eleventh, they chased us pretty far." He stopped, freezing.

"What's wrong?"

"We might be in the eleventh." He groaned. "Crap."

"Isn't that where we want to be?" Mizaki asked, confused. "That's where..."

"Yeah it is." He cut her off. "Of course they just happen to be the strongest fighting squad here, And I'm short, weaker than I was, and all I have is kidou."

"Which reminds me." Mizaki said, making Yumichika turn to face her, puzzled. She pulled out a small sword from her waistband, and handed it to Yumichika. It was a _Wakizashi_. (**A/N: Similar to a Kanata but shorter)**

Yumichika stared at the sword in shock.

"I know it's not much, and it's shorter than what you usually use, but you _are_ smaller, and at least it's something, right?" Mizaki said, grinning slightly.

"Thanks." Yumichika smiled, pulling down the mask to get some air. "It's perfect, for now at least." He settled in a sitting position against the wall, knees pulled up, sword laid across his lap. "What do we do now? It's starting to get dark."

"Rest here I suppose, just make sure your reiatsu is pulled in tight, it could be easy to find us if it's not. You can do that when sleeping right?" Mizaki asked, to which he nodded.

"I wasn't fifth seat for nothing you know." He said dryly. Moving further into the shadows and laying on a dry spot on the ground, using the cloak as a pillow.

Mizaki smiled, looking down at the falling asleep shinigami. "I'll take first watch." She whispered, sitting down opposite and looking up at the sky, listening to the gentle breathing of her little brother. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

_What is it with these stupid shinigami?_ Yumichika though as he ran down yet another street, hoping against all hope he wouldn't get too lost. He was being chased, again, by a small group of shinigami from the eleventh division who had caught sight of him. He didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing the eleventh had caught him. They never were the smartest of shinigami, and he knew he could out-run, out-fight, and probably out-drink (If he was legal) them any day. But for now he was wearing out quickly, and they were catching up fast.

He had no idea where Mizaki had ended up, they had split up earlier that morning agreeing to meet up again later back by the wall where they had gotten in. The night had been long and restless for both of them, Mizaki worrying about their welfare and how they would get back, Yumichika worrying about seeing any of his old friends. Both had got a few hours of sleep in, but not enough it would seem, as they were weary and tired, not at their best, but it would have to do.

Back to the situation at hand, Yumichika made a unexpected leap onto the roof above, speeding away from his pursuers in a sudden burst of energy.

Chasers fallen behind, Yumichika stopped to catch his breath, leaning against a wall.

Breath caught, he straightened, looking around and trying to work out where he was. It was a narrow street, leading onto a empty courtyard. He breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall, breathing hard and fast, senses alert for any familiar reiatsu.

It wasn't long before he felt something, a reiatsu that made him stiffen with fear and nerves. Thankfully it wasn't his...ex-captain, he could cut the smaller down with one strike. But it was probably the next worst thing, and he couldn't quite tell where it was coming from.

"Hey kid." Yumichika became absolutely rigid at the familiar voice from behind, and he slowly turned, looking up into the face of the eleventh division's third seat, smirking down at him, sword resting on his shoulder and a feral gleam in his eye.

"Crap."

* * *

**A/N: Yay, something's finally happening, Actually quite looking forward to writing the next chapter, Ikkaku and Yumichika finally meet again =D Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and please do review, Any constructive critisim would be appreciated, but a short review saying you like/dislike/utterly despise the story would be happily taken as well ^^**

**Have a good new year ^-^  
**


	7. Meeting Old Friends

**A/N: I promised two chapters out by the end of the Christmas holidays, and technically it's still sunday here so therefore still the christmas holidays. **

Cat488: _Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. Update is here, enjoy ^^_

ml7:_Poor Yumi indeed, Ikkaku really is an idiot, and gets even more idiotic as the story moves on. I'm happy you're enjoying so far and thanks for reviewing._**  
**

**disclaimer: Oh, how I wish I owned these characters, but alas, I do not. Get over it.  
**

* * *

"H-hey." Yumichika stuttered, backing up into the courtyard, almost tripping backwards. "um...Can I help you?" He asks, staring up worriedly. He quickly glanced at his wrist, symbol covered with white fingerless gloves, but still there. If it wasn't this would be so much easier.

"I take it you're one of the Ryokya that broke in yesterday?" The bald shinigami spoke with a grin. "You're...smaller than I expected." He said.

Yumichika growled. It was true, yes, he was small. But he was ten years old, what can you expect? He wasn't exactly tall for his age, but that wasn't the point.

"Size doesn't matter." He snarled, glaring up at him.

"Oh really, I'd bet it helps when you're fighting." Ikkaku smirked. "'Cause you're not getting out of here without a fight."

"I'm not fighting you Ikkaku." The name slipped out before he could stop it, and he almost faltered, almost revealed that he hadn't meant to say that.

"How do you know my name?" Ikkaku asked, suspicion growing, along with a frown on his face. Yumichika took another step back, reaching for his sword, trying to think up a believable story.

"Did you actually think we didn't do our research before we came. I know exactly who you are, Eleventh division Third seat Madarame Ikkaku." He mentally patted himself on the back, not bad, if he said so himself. He watched as Ikkaku's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"There's a first, organised Ryokya." He muttered, moving to unsheathe his sword. Yumichika had the strong urge to stick his tongue out, but not only would that make him seem immature, it would involve taking his mask off, which Mizaki told him never to do. Truthfully he didn't see the point in the mask, if anything was going to give him away, it was definitely going to be the eyes, not many people around had purple eyes. Maybe that Kuchiki girl, but she didn't really count, there was no way anyone could think he was her.

The sword swinging round at him didn't take him by surprise. In fact, even though he didn't see it coming as he was distracted by thoughts, he somehow jumped out the way as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And that's when it hit him. Beating Ikkaku would be easy. It was true he didn't really want to fight him, but as he was forced to, there was no other way around it.

He knew about the switching with the sword and sheathe, he knew just about all Ikkaku's fighting moves and skills, everything his Shikai and Bankai could do, and he knew Ikkaku's one weakness...Kidou. The pair had known each other for years, well over a century now, they knew everything about each other. Or at least Yumichika knew everything about Ikkaku.

Bringing his sword out he took a fast swing at him, only barely missing him, Ikkaku blocking just in time.

Thy sparred for a while, Yumichika taking advantage of the fact that he had long worked out the pattern in which Ikkaku changed hands, Ikkaku becoming more and more enraged every time the smaller was able to dodge or attack and seemed to know exactly what he was going to do next. And so, he choose to do something slightly unexpected. Where he often swung down on his opponent, he swung out sideways immediately after another attack, catching the boy off guard, slicing his side and knocking him to the ground.

Gripping his waist in an attempt to stop the bleeding, Yumichika pushed himself up with a growl. That was definitely... unexpected. He looked up at Ikkaku, who was frowning down at him.

"You certainly did do your research didn't you?" He said snidely.

Yumichika smirked, forgetting the other could see it. "Knowing exactly what you were going to do had nothing to do with research, I just have a particularly good sense at what people do next. Most fighters seem to work a pattern into sparring, usually without knowing it, yours wasn't that hard to work out." A lie, but a fairly convincing lie nonetheless.

Ikkaku's expression was priceless, his mouth hung open, eyes wide. "You worked it out that fast?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Please, you're acting as if you're not predictable in any way."

"I like to think I'm not." Ikkaku said, leaning down slightly to see the smaller better.

"You're more predictable than you think." He said, closing his eyes in mock exasperation to hide the colour. "Most people seem to have some sort of routine in most things they do, though most don't know it, they just do it without thinking." _Shut up Yumichika! _He told himself, _don't get ahead of yourself._ "Come on then, I thought you wanted a fight, try and make it more challenging this time." He grimaced at what he was saying, mentally smacking himself.

Quickly he had to dodge another enraged swing, fighting back with his own moves and tactics. It seemed being small had its own advantages and disadvantages. He was faster, and harder to hit, but at the same time, he was lighter, meaning he could be knocked down easier.

Blocking an attack, he used the force pressed down on him to jump up and around, swinging round in the air, foot colliding with the side of Ikkaku's head. He landed gracefully on the ground, cloak fluttering the ground not long after.

It was just when Yumichika looked up did he notice what was attached to Ikkaku's obi, slid under where his sword would be if he ever decided to actually put it there. There, glinting in the winter sun, was his own broken sword. The only thing he needed to get, what they had come for, and something that was unobtainable. He remembered something that was once said about a sword that was broken after a shinigami's death.

'_Only the true owner of the Zanpaktou can bring it back to its original state, simply by touching it.'_

If that didn't immediately give him away, nothing would.

There was nothing he could do about it now, he had to come back later that night and get it while he was sleeping. The only other option was to send in Mizaki. That would have to be plan B for now, he'd try tonight and if that didn't work, it would have to be Mizaki tomorrow.

He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the sword about to be brought down on his head. He looked up just in time to see the flash of the sun against the cold metal about to slice him, before a black and pink blur blocked it, the clang of metal against metal ringing out in the courtyard.

* * *

"Where is that little prick?" Mizaki growled, hiding in a dark cove by the eastern wall, south of the gate just as they had planned. She was in a rather bad mood. After being chased half way across Serietei, attacked half a dozen times by random lower-seated shinigami who thought they could beat her easily because she was a girl, and then falling face first into a pile of snow, today was not turning out well. There was only one thing that could make her feel half better.

Blaming it all on her little brother.

A group of shinigami ran past her hiding spot, and she pressed her back harder against the wall, out of sight, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was jump out and attack everyone of them to relieve her stress. But then, that didn't exactly convey the message that they came in peace and weren't here to hurt anyone.

"Right, now what?" She muttered, pulling out a pack of cards from her pocket. "If he's not back by sunset, I'm going looking for him." And with that she spent the rest of the afternoon playing single player games with the playing cards, not knowing what she could do, at least not in broad daylight.

* * *

Dusk finally came, after a boring afternoon of card games, wandering around, and napping to catch up on sleep. Mizaki, under the cover of the shadows, snuck out onto one of the main streets. Standing by the wall, she stopped, closing her eyes and concentrating on Yumichika's reiatsu, and where it was coming from.

Following the strand of reiatsu she had picked up on, she followed it all the way into another division, finally losing it around the main quarters of the division shinigami.

"Why would he be here?" She muttered to herself, looking around at the shinigami's quarters. She concentrated hard on her brothers reiatsu, trying to pick even a trace of the youngsters pressure.

There! Not much, but it was coming from close by. The lack of reiatsu was beginning to worry her, it either meant a barrier of some sort, or he was hurt, badly. Oh how she prayed it was the second one, he hadn't exactly given her the best day ever. But then she didn't really wish any hurt on him, the bad day was probably karma for betraying him all those years ago. She followed the sliver of reiatsu, walking down the streets until it stopped.

Right outside the Vice-captain Quarters.

Creeping up to the door, she hoped and prayed he wasn't in here. Pressing her ear against the cold wood of the door, she listened for any sound indoors.

"H-hey!" Came a faint yell from another room, which sounded much like Yumichika.

"Oh stop fussing, of course it's still going to hurt." Another voice piped up, this one high-pitched, a woman. And it sounded strangely familiar. "I've never been good at healing spells, and what they would say if I took you to the fourth..." She trailed off, followed by a yelp from Yumichika.

"Doesn't mean you have to poke it." He squeaked.

Mizaki softly pushed against the door, surprised that it slowly swung open.

"I think Mizaki found me." She heard Yumichika say from the other room. Sighing deeply, she stepped inside, shocked by the warmth of the home.

"Too right I found you." She growled out, still annoyed at being abandoned the whole afternoon. Looking to her right she saw a sheepish Yumichika standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. "Where the hell have you been?" She asked, annoyed.

"Sorry." The other voice said. Mizaki looked up to see a blonde woman standing behind the small boy. "I saw he was hurt and I had to patch him up, but gods he's fussy."

Mizaki stared at the woman's face, trying to work out why she looked so familiar. Something in her past, something...

"Tanaka Mizaki, Or as I remember you Ayasegawa Mizaki." The blonde said, looking down at Yumichika's confused expression flicking from one face to the other.

Something in Mizaki's head clicked. Of course!

"Matsumoto Rangiku!"

* * *

**A/N: sorry, lots of cliff-hangers and un-answered questions, all of which will be continued and answered in the next chapter, some of which I stil have to work out myself, but am getting a clearer idea of whats going to happen. **

**Thanks to the reviewers, and to all those who read this far, you people are fantastic. Keep the reviews coming, I would love to see more, and I do try and reply to each and every one personally, so if you do review anonymously, replies should now be in the next chapter, but if you do have an account please log on when you review so I can reply.  
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	8. Matsumoto?

_He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the sword about to be brought down on his head. He looked up just in time to see the flash of the sun against the cold metal about to slice him, before a black and pink blur blocked it, the clang of metal against metal ringing out in the courtyard. _

"What?" Yumichika breathed as he looked up from his crouched position on the ground. Standing in front of him was a blonde woman, a pink scarf around her shoulders, sword out and against Ikkaku's, blocking his swing. "Matsumoto?"

"Matsumoto! What do you think you're doing?" Ikkaku raged, pulling back and glaring daggers at the blonde. "You know my rule. No-"

"No interfering." Both Yumichika and Matsumoto interrupted in perfect Unison. They had both had it banged into their heads enough in the years they had known the bald shinigami, neither needed reminding. Of course Yumichika saying it earned him a confused glance from Ikkaku, before the Shinigami moved back to interrogating Matsumoto.

"I don't care if you don't like people interrupting your fights, you could kill him, and I won't allow that." Matsumoto said, holding her sword in front of her, pointing at Ikkaku.

"Why? 'Cause he's a kid?"

"That's one of the reasons, the other you have to work out for yourself, but I know it will do none of us any good if you kill him, you especially."

Yumichika gave a small gasp, standing up, albeit shakily. She can't have worked out who he was. She can't have.

"Run Yumi." She hissed down at him, barely audible.

Well, obviously she had. Somehow.

Yumichika shook his head in defiance, standing his ground. His sword in a tight grip, he took a stance.

"So you know him?" Ikkaku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe." The blonde said simply, shrugging and stepping slightly more in front of the smallest of the group.

"Oh, for fu- Do you want me to fight you instead?" Ikkaku growled, waving his hands -and sword- in the air, glaring at the woman.

"If it makes you feel better." Matsumoto said, before she felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down, right into a pair of determined violet eyes. "Do you think you can? With that injury?" She asked, looking sceptical. The smaller nodded. "Go ahead, but I'm stepping in if it gets too much."

"It won't, all I want to do is get out of here. This won't take long." Yumichika said, stepping in front of the blonde, who took a few steps back to get out of the way.

"Coming back to fight, huh kid?" Ikkaku leered, smirking down at the boy, sword resting on his shoulder.

"Not really." Yumichika said, before leaping up and smashing his sword down against Ikkaku's. They sparred for a few seconds, before Ikkaku knocked the smaller back, Yumichika landing on his feet, kneeling on the damp ground, but keeping his head down, perfectly still.

"_Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!"_ He uttered quietly, holding one hand up, pointing at the bald shinigami. "_Bakudo no. 9 Hōrin_." He finished, louder, and a glowing orange rope of kidou shot out of his finger, and, before anyone could even blink, had wrapped itself around Ikkaku, holding him still.

"Hey! Kidou's cheating!" The bald exclaimed, glaring at the slightly panting child in front of him. "It's a cowards way out."

Yumichika straightened, looking down at Ikkaku, who was now sitting on the floor, struggling against the bindings. "You know, ten -no- six years ago, I thought that too. And I was damn stubborn about it. But then someone taught me something. Kidou isn't cheating, it's tactic. If you're able to use it, it can be damn useful in the middle of battle. The only reason you're against it is because you. Can't. Do it." The last bit was spat out, purple eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'll see you around." And with that, he spun on his heel and stormed off as quickly as he could without running, Matsumoto following at a small trot.

"Don't follow me." Yumichika said, once they had turned the corner. "I don't want you in trouble because of me."

"I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me." Matsumoto grinned as they slowed to a walk once they were far enough away. Suddenly, there was a burst of Reiatsu. Ikkaku's to be particular.

He had escaped the bindings.

"Oh dear." Yumichika muttered as he felt the spiritual pressure move, getting closer to their position.

"Quick!" Matsumoto grabbed his cloak and pulled him into a small alcove in the wall. Pulling his back tight against her so they would fit, Yumichika's head only just reaching her stomach, she held a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. "Pull in your reiatsu and don't say a word."

Only moments later, Ikkaku stormed past, mumbling angrily to himself, and a few seconds later they heard the yelps of the poor suckers that had got in the way of his angry march. The hidden pair silently chuckled, thanking whatever higher power there was that wasn't them. Both had been on the other end of Ikkaku when he was mad. Yumichika more than most. Not that Ikkaku would mean to hurt his friends, nor did he actually ever hurt anyone he knew, most could overpower him when he was in that state, especially if he was drunk or he was outnumbered, and everyone knew he had a habit of lashing out when he was mad or drunk. Or both.

Once the reiatsu was far enough away, Yumichika relaxed, stumbling out into the street, wincing only slightly at a sharp pain in his side, but he thought nothing of it. He glanced around, making sure the coast was clear, before he spun back around to the blonde, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"How do you know?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"About what?" Matsumoto asked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. "About who you are?"

"Of course."

"It wasn't that hard to work out, I knew you'd be back someday. I'll admit I wasn't expecting you here so soon. But your age wasn't difficult to work out just from the height, and I just did the math from there." She shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right... I... suppose that makes sense." The smaller said thoughtfully. _She's smarter than I thought_. "Fine, fine." He said, holding up his hands in defeat. "But you must swear not to tell a soul. No one. Okay?"

"Okay!" Matsumoto grinned. "I swear." She nodded, as if agreeing with herself.

"Alright, tha- argh." Yumichika suddenly crouched low, holding his side, eyes shut tight in pain. He heard Matsumoto saying something in the back of his mind, but a haze had filled his vision and sounds were becoming muffled. He could faintly feel a hand on his shoulder, before he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. He must have been hurt more than he thought. Trying not to whimper like a child, he felt the wind rush past him, and, what felt like hours later, he was in a warm house. There he felt his guard drop, against his will, and he drifted into a well needed sleep.

Matsumoto inwardly panicked when the shorter of the two suddenly doubled over in pain. She knew she couldn't take him to the fourth. She definitely wasn't prepared for any questioning as to who he was. It was fairly obvious anyway. He was one of the two Ryokya that had broken in the day before. That was not going to go down well. At all.

So she did the first thing that came into her head. Take him home and bandage him up until she could find someone who could patch him up properly.

Pushing the door to her quarters firmly shut with her foot, she dashed into her room, laying the small boy gently down on her already rolled out futon. It was only then she noticed he was unconscious. Tilting her head slightly, she pulled the material down to reveal the lower half of his face. She almost chucked at the peaceful expression, he really did look just like a younger version of Yumichika. No wonder he tried to hide, no one would really want their friends to see them as a child. It was a little weird.

A quiet groan reminded her where she was and what she was meant to be doing. She rushed into the kitchen and pulled open one of the cupboards.

Sake.

Wrong cupboard.

She tried again. Right at the back was the emergency first aid kit she had always had in there, but never really had to use. The only medicine she had to use daily was hangover medicine, which was in a more accessible spot nearer her futon. (i.e. under her pillow.)

Taking the kit back to her room, she quickly takes on the task of cleaning the deep wound and bandaging it up, all the while thinking how weird it was to see Yumichika as a ten year old.

* * *

When the light finally broke through his eyelids, Yumichika groaned, feeling an aching pain in his side. . Evening sunlight casting an orange-pink glow on the room, he looked around the strange room hazily, he tried to work out where he was, and why he was here. He pushed himself up slowly and shakily, making sure he didn't get too dizzy. Searching his fuzzy mind, he tried to remember what happened

He tried to stand up on shaky legs, realising his cloak and mask had gone. He looked around the room again, noticing they were neatly folded on a chair near the futon. He could feel bandages round his stomach, and the top half of his uniform was loose, showing the white cloth.

Oh, that was it. This was Matsumoto's room. It smelled kind of girly, the faint smell of perfume lingering. He remembered what happened. Ikkaku had caught his side with his sword while fighting, Matsumoto turned up, and he had used Kidou on Ikkaku to get away. His memory fades just after they had hidden from a fuming Ikkaku. Leaning on the wall, he groaned, feeling slightly ill.

Then, the sound of what can only be described as a cat being strangled reached his ears, and the smell of pancakes attacked his nose. Still leaning on the wall, his side aching dully, he slowly made his way towards the sound, cringing as a particularly high note was attempted at. And failed at.

"Ma-Matsumoto?" He muttered as he entered the kitchen. Matsumoto was standing by a teetering pile of pancakes. Or, at least, they smelt like pancakes. And looked a _little_ like them...

"Hey, you're awake, how're you feeling?" Matsumoto said, finally stopping the awful singing. "Want any pancakes?"

Yumichika looked sceptically at the pile. "You sure those are pancakes?" He said, moving to sit up at the table, turning in his seat to look back at the blonde.

"Oh come on. My cooking's not that bad."

"Matsumoto, I've tasted your cooking before. Yes, it is _that_ bad." Yumichika said, raising an eyebrow. He turned back to the table as Matsumoto brought the...pancakes over.

As she sat down, she reached out and poked the smaller in the side.

"H-hey!" Yumichika exclaimed, jumping at the sudden burst of pain, which quickly faded.

"Oh stop fussing, of course it's still going to hurt." Matsumoto said, shrugging. "I've never been good at healing spells, and what they would say if I took you to the fourth..." She trailed off, poking him again in the side. Yumichika yelped, jumping again.

"Doesn't mean you have to poke it." He squeaked, before freezing as a slight creak reached his hearing, and he felt a familiar reiatsu. "I think Mizaki found me."

"Too right I found you." Came Mizaki's annoyed voice from the hall. Yumichika slid off his chair and hurried over to the door. "Where the hell have you been?" Mizaki asked angrily as she turned to face him. He grinned sheepishly up at her. He flinched slightly when he felt a hand rest on his head. Usually he would moan about his hair, and he was about to, but something in him gave up, and he slumped his shoulders. Suddenly he didn't particularly care. He probably looked pretty bad anyway, couldn't get that much worse.

"Sorry." Matsumoto voice sounded above him. Mizaki looked up at her. "I saw he was hurt and I had to patch him up, but gods he's fussy." She said, earning herself a glare from below. Yumichika turned back to his sister, noticing the thoughtful look on her face as she stared at Matsumoto. Her eyebrows had furrowed and her mouth pulled into a tight frown.

"Tanaka Mizaki." Matsumoto said, and Yumichika frowned up at her, she knew her? "Or as I remember you, Ayasegawa Mizaki."

Suddenly, as if realisation dawned, her eyes widened and she gasped, covering her open mouth with both hands

"Matsumoto Rangiku!"

Matsumoto grinned, stepping around Yumichika so he didn't end up crushed between them as Mizaki jumped her, hugging her tight, while Yumichika stared, still puzzled at the pair.

They continued squealing, hugging and constantly talking over each other for some time, until Yumichika finally gave up, rolling his eyes and turning back towards the kitchen. "I'm not going to ask, I need to get ready." This got Mizaki's attention, and she stopping talking, looking over at her brother in confusion, Matsumoto mirroring her expression.

"Get ready for what?" Mizaki asked.

"Getting my Zanpaktou back of course." Yumichika smirked over his shoulder, large violet eyes sparkling.

* * *

**A/N: Didn't see that coming did you? I'm sorry, I have a little bit of a habit of staying as vague as possible until the last moment. What can I say? It keeps people guessing ^^ I hope this was satisfactory, it was going to be longer, but I decided to split it up, and finish the second half later. That will be coming soon, don't you worry ^^**

**I hope you enjoyed, if so, please review. Virtual cookies to all those who have reviewed and who click that button now. (I must mention, they were NOT made by Matsumoto or Inoue, and are double chocolate =D)**

**One last thing, I've got another poll up, please go vote, the fate of the story rests in your hands ^^  
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	9. Going home? Well, Maybe Not Home

As quiet as the night around him, Yumichika ran through Serietei, undetected by the guards on their patrols.

He had left Mizaki and Matsumoto behind at the meeting spot, near the eastern wall where they had broken in. There, Mizaki was making contact with a certain Shoten owner to open the Senkaimon, to ensure their quick escape before anyone found out about them. He still hadn't found out how Matsumoto knew his sister, or how Mizaki knew Urahara for that matter, guessing Mizaki would tell him when they get back and have time.

He came to a stop on a rooftop, looking around him in confusion.

Everything looked the same! He dropped his head into his hands, groaning.

"It's only been ten years!" He moaned, looking up at the starry sky, watching his breath come out in little puffs because of the cold. "Why the hell am I lost! I should know this damnit."

Sighing in annoyance, he carried on the general right direction, in the hope he would come across something more familiar. And as he ran, familiarity began to kick in, as a few more memories returned suddenly, making his head throb painfully for a moment. But now he knew, almost, where he was going. He dropped from the roof onto the cold hard floor.

Left here, then a right, left, and left again, until pretty soon he was directly below the window of the apartment he used to share with Ikkaku. A reliable source (Okay, it was Matsumoto) had told him Ikkaku still lived here, so in theory, he should be up there now, with his Zanpaktou.

'_Please be asleep. Please be asleep. Please be asleep._' He silently prayed. Looking up at the dark window, he gathered the courage, thought about the reason he was here, and leapt up onto the window ledge, surprised to see the window open in this cold, snowy weather.

He landed silently in a crouched position, cloak fluttering down behind him. When he looked up at the room, he froze, a flurry of memories rushing back all at once.

A loud snore caught his attention, and he jumped, turning his head to see Ikkaku sprawled across one of two futons, in a rather.... ungraceful position.

Yumichika let out a quiet chuckle. _Some things never change, huh? _He smiled, before looking around the room, a lot more familiarity than expected rushing back. _Lots of things don't change. What the heck? _He thought, gaping at the all too familiar room. Nothing had changed. Well, obviously a few things had changed, but that wasn't the point, there were two futons laid out, rather than the one, which would have made him think at first that obviously somebody had moved in with Ikkaku after he had died, but at another glance, many of his old things were still in the same place, his book on the dresser, and... and his Zanpaktou in its usual place next to Ikkaku's.

He waited a short moment, to make sure the Bald shinigami was definitely asleep, before slipping off the windowsill, silently landing on the floor. A lump began to form in his throat as he looked around at the barely changed room. Had he really meant that much to Ikkaku?

Another snore made him jump and he suddenly remembered why he was here.

He crept over to his sword, trying to remember where the creaky floorboards were.

Oh... There....

He froze, only half a metre away from his target, as the wooden board beneath his foot let out a sharp 'squeak'. He held his breath waiting for Ikkaku to wake up.

Nothing. Another snore and a sound from him turning in his sleep, but he didn't wake up.

Yumichika breathed a sigh of relief, and took another step forward, reaching out with one fully gloved hand (Mizaki gave them to him, said he shouldn't risk reforming the sword until they had got out of there, somebody could easily find out about him).

Just as his fingers were about to close around the hilt, a steely voice made him freeze.

"Touch that, and I _will_ kill you."

"Crap." Yumichika breathed, tensing up, thinking hard. How could he get out of this one?

He sighed, deciding to play it innocent.

"Why? It's only a broken sword." He said, trying to keep his voice steady. "What's it to you?" The question was met by a stunned and angry silence. _Okay... maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. _

"It belonged to someone who meant a lot to me. He died ten years ago. So I suggest you leave it. Unless you want to die. Very slowly, and very painfully." Ikkaku growled.

There was only one way out of this.

"Hadō no. 31: Shakkahō." He muttered, aiming the spell at the floor, right in front of Ikkaku. it was a suitable distraction, no one would get hurt, and he could get out of there without being killed. The red ball of kidou quickly formed in his hand, and blasted at the wooden floor, sending up shard of wood and dust, and a small explosion, which was...surprisingly loud.

Cursing the whole situation, Yumichika shot out a fully covered hand, and grabbed the hilt of his sword, only knowing it was his from the weight, before darting out the window, landing on the cold, hard ground, albeit unsteadily. Getting his balance, he quickly moved into the shadows, running down the narrow alleyways, gripping his sword tightly and hearing the yells from behind. Unfortunately, the kidou had alerted others to his presence, and now there were more people after him.

Great.

Using Shunpo, he jumped onto the rooftops. If no one saw him, he might be safer there.

But of course, someone did, and shouts went up from below.

"He's on the roof!"

Groaning, Yumichika tried to pick up the pace, running as fast as he could, using his light weight to his advantage. He could see the Eastern wall advancing, but suddenly his view was blocked, and he ran headfirst in a large, soft(ish) object.

He rubbed his head, sitting up from falling over at the collision, and looked up, seeing Ikkaku growling down at him. It was a vaguely similar face to when he used to get mad at him before, usually for petty things, like spilling his sake, or little things like that. That would usually be followed by a spar, which usually morphs into a tussle on the ground, which then ends up with him being tickled mercilessly (not long after they had met, Ikkaku found his friends weak spots, and sometimes used it to his advantage, when he didn't want to actually hurt the slighter man).

But now, Ikkaku's expression was bordering murderous, something rarely seen in the Bald shinigami.

Yumichika stared up at him, scared out of his wits at this point. Sure Ikkaku was pretty scary at the best of times, but never before had he seen him _this_ mad.

The cold sound of metal sliding against metal sent a chill up his spine, and only a second later he was looking at the sharp tip of a sword. They stayed, locked in the position for a short time, before Ikkaku moved the Zanpaktou down, so it was aimed at his neck.

Yumichika tried to calm his wildly beating heart, and slow down his erratic breathing. He could feel the reiatsu of other shinigami watching. From a safe distance of course. No one would dare get close at a time like this. The cold tip of the sword rested lightly on his throat. He could feel his sisters and Matsumoto's reiatsu suddenly spike, but Ikkaku completely ignored it.

Glancing to the side, he caught a glimpse of Mizaki, glaring daggers at Ikkaku, and drawing her sword. He signalled for her to stop, to calm down with his hand, praying she would notice as he levelled Ikkaku's glare with his own.

"Usually, I would actually fight the person I want to kill, before I kill them." Ikkaku started, his voice low and filled with murderous intentions. "But I think for this I'll make an exception." The tip was pressed slightly harder, and Yumichika felt a small drop of blood run down his throat. "Do you have any idea what that is?"

The smaller nodded, careful not to make the sword press any harder. "I do." He said, slowly standing up. "And if you have any idea what's coming, you will let me go." He continued, not knowing where the words were coming from, but carrying on regardless. He knew there was an approaching war. What he had to do with it, and there _was_ something, he still had no idea. All he knew is he needed Bankai, and they would need it in the future. "Please, let me go."

"No." Oh, yes. Begging rarely worked on him. Might've forgotten that. He had a feeling Kidou would make things worse, so there was only one option.

Fight.

Well. Two options, the other was run, but he still had his pride, he was not going to run. Not this time.

"Then let me fight you."

Ikkaku looked at him like he was crazy, but shrugged and agreed anyway. "Fine." He pulled back, but only for a second, before the sword was once again swinging down at his head. Yumichika only had a split second to draw his own substitute sword to block. The force was enough for the roof to cave slightly. He pushed back with as much force as he could with one hand. Angling the sword, he ducked out of the way of the blow, moving to the side, his back to the now open door.

"You better hurry!" He heard Mizaki yell. "We can't keep the door open forever you know."

"You're from the living world?" Ikkaku asked, glancing at the familiar door, leading into what seemed to be nothing.

"No, I'm from the world of the fairies." The slighter drawled sarcastically. "Yes, of course."

"Well it's not that obvious." The bald muttered, still glaring down at the little thief.

Ah, if only he knew.

"Hey, you've really got to hurry now. You've got exactly...." Mizaki trailed, trying to see her watch in the darkness.

"2 Minutes and 34...33 seconds, before she's leaving without you." Matsumoto finished for her.

Yumichika glanced back at the pair, worried in particular for Matsumoto. She was not meant to get caught up in this. It may have been okay before, when nobody knew she was with them, now half of Serietei knew. At least the half that were awake. Which now included one or two of the captains, and a few vice-captains, who had been awoken by the commotion and spiked reiatsu. She was going to be in so much trouble for this.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to finish this at another time." He quickly told Ikkaku, before bowing slightly and shunpo-ing to the door.

"Right. Let's get out of here." Mizaki cheered, grinning.

"Yeah, hold on." Yumichika said, turning to Matsumoto. "What are you going to do?" He asked. "They know you helped us, you know what the punishment is."

"Exile or Detention. I know. Totally worth it though, I haven't seen Ikkaku show this much energy since before you died. Of course now he's going to get all depressed again." Matsumoto said, shrugging. "Don't worry, I'll take what comes. If it's execution, then I'll call you. It's unlikely though." She smirked, glancing at all the shocked shinigami at seeing her with them.

"We're in Kyoto if you do end up in our world. Just so you know. I'm sure you can find us." Yumichika told her, just before he was enveloped in a hug. His eyes widened in surprised. It wasn't one of her usual crushing hugs. It was a normal, gentle hug. A rarity from Matsumoto.

She pulled back, smiling warmly down at him. "Don't be too long okay? I'm not sure how long we can hold him off for." Her smile turned back to a smirk as she glanced over her shoulder. "Now go, before your sister yells at me."

The smaller nodded, before running into the emptiness after Mizaki, who had already wandered off.

"I'll be back...someday." He said softly, looking back at the fading image of what was once his home.

* * *

**A/N: _'I'll be back'_ it sounds like the freaking Terminator....ah well.... Here's chapter nine. I hope you enjoy. **

**Thank you for all the reviews, they make me soooo happy. Do keep them coming, they're so nice to see in my inbox, and such an inspiration. Also as I put in (late) the last chapter, I have a new poll up, to help me with a certain aspect of future chapters. Please go vote, the fate of the story rests in your hands.... Well.... maybe not the entire story, but a very important part of it ^-^'  
**


	10. Didn't expect to see you

"Matsumoto Rangiku." Boomed the low voice of the Captain-commander, echoing through the large hall.

The shinigami in question lifted her head to look at the captains standing before her. She flinched especially at her own captains cold, hard, and disappointed gaze. "Yes. Sou-tachiou."

"You stand accused of helping the Ryokya escape, sheltering them and for defending them without basis." The Commander began. "This is treason and until a good reason is presented, you know what the punishment is." Deafening silence filled the room, the last words bouncing off the walls. It was a while before anyone spoke again.

"I see you had no purpose." Soi Fong stated, stepping forward to glare down at the accused, another long silence following.

"I have a reason!" Matsumoto suddenly said, standing up, her glare matching the second division captain's with equal force. "I do have a reason." She repeated, softer, breaking the staring match she seemed to be having, looking down at the floor.

"Oh, and what's that?" Zaraki suddenly spoke, or more, growled.

The strawberry blonde mumbled something incoherent, looking anywhere but the expectant faces of the captains.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." Yamamoto said.

"I can't tell you!" She exploded. "I promised him I wouldn't tell a soul. And I'm not going to, I keep my promises, especially to old friends."

"Ah, so he was a friend." the commander repeated thoughtfully. "And yet you would not help another comrade, one who has lost someone dear to him, keep a memory of his friend, is that right?" Another wave of guilt rushed through the vice-captain, at what she had probably done to Ikkaku. A heavy silence filled the room. "That aside," he continued, "let us deal with the issue at hand. Matsumoto, do you plead innocent or guilty?"

Matsumoto looked round the room with a worried expression. What to do?

She came to a decision, her features hardening. "Guilty." She said, "I stand by my decision to help them." She straightened, watching the expressions change on many of the captains. Smiling softly, she looked directly at the Commander, who had opened one eye to look at her, amazed.

"Right, what would be a suitable punishment for this one?" He asked the stunned room.

Silence met his question. That is, until Soi Fong stepped forward.

"I think tha-"

"Wait." She was cut off by a low voice. Hitsugaya Toshirou stepped forward, his scowl in its usual place as he glared at the martial artist. Matsumoto took a sharp intake of breath in shock. "She is still my Vice-captain. And as her captain, I ask if I can deal with her myself." He finished, moving slightly to look at the commander.

The old man stayed silent for a moment, contemplating this proposal.

"Alright, do with her what you will, but ensure that she is punished in some way, to make sure this does not happen again."

"Yes, Sou-Tachiou." Hitsugaya affirmed, bowing slightly.

Matsumoto released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She wouldn't be kicked out of Soul Society, and she wouldn't be going to the detention centre... hopefully.

"You are dismissed."

Matsumoto stood shock still as the other captains strode past her out the room. She was shocked...to say the least, she had managed to get away with it. She had, almost, gotten away scot free from helping the Ryokya get out of Serietei. She would still get punished, her captain would not let her get away completely, but it was better than exile, or detention.

"Matsumoto." A deep voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked down at her captain, eyes wide. "Come on. We'll discuss this in my office."

The walk to said office felt longer than usual, Matsumoto stayed in a sombre silence, a rarity, as she thought over what she had done to Ikkaku.

It was true, in the long run, it was better for the now ten year old Yumichika, once he achieved Bankai, he could tell everyone, if they didn't work it out first, and without his Zanpaktou this would be impossible. But she knew what she had done would have hurt the bald shinigami greatly, he had lost his only true memory of his dearest friend, she had practically taken it from him herself.

The next few years would be hell, that much she knew. Not only would Ikkaku want to kill her at every possible opening, chances are, most of the eleventh division would, and everyone who took Ikkaku's side in this. Which would most likely be everyone, she was, after all, the one who did wrong here. Even if she knew what she did was right, at least right in the long term.

Suddenly she was walking through the door to the office, and she started, having completely zoned out the entire way there and not remembering any of the walk.

"Right." Hitsugaya said, sitting down on one of the sofas, gesturing for her to sit on the one opposite. She did as instructed, nervously twiddling her thumbs, looking anywhere but her captain. "What to do with you?" the white-haired boy murmured to himself. "What you have done is very serious...but you said you had a reason. Can you tell me?"

"I can't tell you everything." The vice-captain muttered.

"But you can tell me some things?"

"I'll tell you what I can." Matsumoto looked up, surprised at the expression he was wearing. It wasn't mad, or disappointed. It was questioning and curious, with what looked like a hint of understanding. "Both were good friends of mine, one quite some time ago, before I became a shinigami, the other not so long ago. Mizaki, the older one, I used to talk with a lot when we were younger, we were really good friends, she was really understanding, and often offered shelter in her home on nights when the weather was bad. But then she got pulled back by her parents, and I saw her less and less, I found out her and her brother were being forced into an arranged marriage and were rarely allowed out the house. Her twin brother ran away not long after, and that was when she disappeared completely. I never saw her again. The younger boy I can't tell you much about, but-"

"It's Ayasegawa isn't it?" Hitsugaya cut her off. Matsumoto spluttered somewhat, tripping over her own words, until she finally managed to get one word out.

"How?"

"It's fairly obvious. I saw him two nights ago when they escaped, only a child. And the sword he stole. The math wasn't that hard to do. Ayasegawa would be about ten now right?" Matsumoto nodded, wondering how many more people had worked it out. "I don't think many people have worked it out, don't worry, and if they have I doubt they would say anything, he had a mask on for a reason."

"Okay, but if anyone mentions it to you, tell them not to tell another soul. It may get around to Ikkaku, and he hurt the kid a fair bit a few days ago, he'd feel really bad if he knew." She begged, hoping it wouldn't get out. "Though he's gone back to locking himself away."

"Hmmmm...." Hitsugaya looked out the window thoughtfully. "Pretty soon he'll be on a rampage for anyone involved in the whole incident."

Matsumoto gulped. That meant her.

"I can understand what you did and why you did it. But the Sou-Tachiou is still expecting a punishment, so I suppose I'll have to think of something." He leaned back against the couch. "And taking into consideration there are probably a lot of people around that will most likely want to kill you, I'm thinking an extended mission in the living world."

"What?!" Matsumoto, not knowing whether to be happy or horrified.

"There is still a strangely high number of hollows turning up in Kyoto. The shinigami on duty there are being replace once every few days, sometimes more than once in a day. They need a stronger someone to lead them." He continued. "And another healer for that matter." He added as an afterthought.

"Wait, Kyoto?" She confirmed.

"Yes."

Matsumoto thought this over for a while. "I could do that." She said slowly. And while she was there she could get caught up with the twins, and help with the Bankai training, if she could. And then there was the shopping, and the alcohol, and the-

"Of course, I'll be sending you paperwork over for you to do while you're there."

The smile that was forming on the Vice-captains face suddenly dropped, and she begun to protest.

"While I understand what you did, you still went against the rules of Soul Society and I need to find a suitable punishment for you, and I think that would be suitable enough. I'll make sure you do it. It's that or I let you get killed by the angry mob that's bound to be after your head. Your choice."

"I'll do it. But if the amount of hollow is as much as you say, I'm going to be pretty busy."

"I know, and I'm going to let you off a little, by doing a fraction of your work, and sending the rest over. But only a small fraction."

"Okay. Fair enough I suppose." Matsumoto said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'll contact the fourth, see if they have a healer to spare. You'll be leaving as soon as possible, so I suggest you go get ready and sort your Gigai out. Meet me here at sundown."

"Yes, sir." Matsumoto grinned.

* * *

"Okaaay, now what do we do?" Matsumoto asked, standing on a small bridge that led over to a city shrine, high up on a hill. It was midnight, or just past, and the cold winter's moon shone down brightly on the pair, who had just arrived in Kyoto.

The smaller girl, the healer, who had been sent along with her, looked up at the sky.

"Well, um, I suppose the first thing to do would be find somewhere to stay." The small girl said.

"I know who we could stay with, but I don't exactly know where that is."

"Who's that?" the healer asked, looking up at the moon.

"Just an old friend of mine. I think I may know how to find them though." She closed her eyes, concentrating hard on the surrounding reiatsu's, looking for two in particular. "There!" She took off into the night, the healer, Aimi, hot on her heals. It was only a flicker, only a small feeling, but she knew the direction it was coming from, and as she moved she could feel it get stronger and stronger.

Eventually they pair landed on the roof of a large traditional house, looking around them.

The reiatsu was definitely coming from within.

Matsumoto deftly dropped to the ground, right in front of the front door.

"Useful." She murmured as Aimi dropped down next to her, looking around in amazement.

Matsumoto raised a hand, before hesitating, what were they going to say when they found her standing on their doorstep? Shaking it off, she confidently knocked on the door....loudly.

It was a big house.

A lot of yelling followed, after some banging, which sounded a lot like someone falling down the stairs.

"What have I told you about getting up? With that injury?" They heard Mizaki yell, before the door was thrown open, revealing said girl, in a oversized fluffy dressing gown, fuzzy bunny slippers and a pair of long socks.

"Cold?" Matsumoto asked when she took in what her old friend was wearing.

"The heater broke, and it's the middle of winter." The dark-haired woman said darkly, obviously not liking that fact. "What are you doing here? Please don't say exile."

"Mission." Matsumoto said, letting herself into the cold house and looking up the stairs, where a ten year old Yumichika was sitting, chin resting on his hands looking down on the trio, his gaze questioning. The blonde grinned up at him. "There have been a strange amount of hollows appearing round here. The shinigami are being replaced too often for their liking, so they sent me to try and sort the problem out."

"We've heard of the problem." Yumichika said from the top of the stairs. "And tried to do something, but often the shinigami on duty gets in the way, or we defeat them, and more come. It's like someone's feeding them in from outside."

"Yeah, but it's too late to be talking about that. I suppose you two need somewhere to stay?" Mizaki asked.

"If that's alright." Matsumoto said, looking round at Aimi, who was staring around in amazement at the size of the foyer alone. Wait till she saw the rest of the house.

"Sure, sure. This place is certainly big enough." Mizaki grinned, before turning to the healer. "Hi, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Tanaka Mizaki." She said, holding out a hand.

Aimi jumped, turning to look at the smiling hostess. "Oh...Hayashi Aimi. Thank you for letting us stay." She said, bowing.

Mizaki raised an eyebrow, smiling even wider. "No need to be so formal. I don't care for any of that stuff. My brother got all that. I'll show you to you rooms."

"Thanks." Matsumoto said, following her out the room.

"Hayashi-san." A quiet voice stopped the healer from following, and she turned to see the small boy standing a few steps up from the bottom, staring at her.

"Yes?"

"I know you don't know what for, but thanks." He said, smiling softly.

Aimi tilted her head in confusion. "Umm...You're welcome?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

Yumichika turned to go back upstairs, limping slightly.

"Wait." Aimi said, and he turned back round. "What for?"

"You'll see." He said simply, smiling. "In time...you'll see."

* * *

**A/N: I don't like it personally, but maybe you will. Please review and tell me what you think, and maybe improvments. I love constuctive critisism. It really helps for future chapters. Thanks. And big hugs to those who have already reviewed, keep them coming....I love knowing what you all think of my writing.**

**Also the poll is still up, and will be up until I get round to writing that particular bit. So go vote, if you haven't already.  
**


	11. Missing You

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

The small group gathered in the bar looked up in surprise at the explosion of anger at the door. Ikkaku had burst in, figurative smoke billowing from his ears, and fire in his eyes.

"Where is who?" Kira dared ask, even though he knew damn well who the bald shinigami was looking for. They all had been. Maybe not with exactly the same intentions as Ikkaku, they did not want to murder Matsumoto in any way shape or form (why would they want to get rid of those), but they all, they being Kira, Hisagi and Renji, definitely wanted a long talk about what she did and why she did it.

But, no Matsumoto. No one had seen hide nor hair of her in a week, since the trial. Either she had gone into hiding until Ikkaku had calmed down (which seemed to be having an adverse affect) or they had placed a punishment such as exile or detention on the vice-captain. The last they had seen of her was after the trial when they had seen her trailing her captain, a worried, thoughtful and far-off expression on her features. Nobody knew what happened after that, her reiatsu disappeared that night.

"Who do you bloody think?" Ikkaku growled, slamming his sword down on an empty part of the bar. The bartender, and the rest of the room, cowering in fear of the shinigami, even though they knew the anger wasn't directed at them, it was likely somebody else, not involved, would get dragged in some way or another.

"Matsumoto obviously." Hisagi said. "But we don't know." Ikkaku growled low at this.

"Nobody does." Renji said. "She disappeared a week ago. If you had been around, you might have caught her after the trail. We're guessing she either got detention centre or exile. It's the only explanation."

"Then again..." Kira said, looking thoughtful. "I heard Hitsugaya-tachiou was going to decide on the punishment. So she's probably locked up doing paperwork somewhere."

"Likely. Besides Ikkaku, I know what she did wasn't good." Renji continued.

"Understatement of the year." Hisagi muttered, which they all ignored.

"But perhaps it'll be a good start to ask Hitsugaya-tachiou what happened, then we can move on to why they stole Ayasegawa-san's sword." A new voice cut in, and the four turned to see Ise Nanao standing behind them, frowning thoughtfully.

"What are you doing here?" Hisagi asked.

"I followed baldy here." She said simply, nearly making Ikkaku explode, if it wasn't for the glare followed by the dangerous glint off her glasses. "I saw he was mad, and wanted to make sure he didn't accidently kill anyone. Besides I'm interested in the theft. And I know what you're going through, in a way."

Ikkaku calmed for a moment, a look of curiosity passed over his face. "What do you mean?"

"Long story short, An old friend of mine gave me his necklace before he died, and it got stolen a few years later. And I never forgave that person, even though I still don't know who it is." She stared at the ground, going silent.

"Okay, on to the tenth division." Renji said loudly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah."

* * *

"What do you mean she's not here?" the Redhead asked, the four boys horrified...for obvious reasons.

"She's been sent on an extended mission in the living world." Hitsugaya said calmly, lifting another sheet of paper off the teetering on the corner of his desk. "She'll be back whenever the problem has been sorted out. And I don't think that'll be for a while, considering sorting the problem is not the only thing she will be doing."

"Shopping?" Kira asked innocently.

"Not quite." The captain said, his knuckles turning white at the memory of her dragging him shopping. Not pretty. "If she does...well, there will be hell to pay. She has too much to do."

"Paperwork?" Ikkaku asked hopefully. If there was one way to punish Matsumoto it would be to make her do paperwork.

"Yes."

"Good." Ikkaku said. "Thank you for answering our questions Hitsugaya-tachiou." He continued politely, before bowing and moving out the room, the others following his example.

Once outside Renji turned to Ikkaku. "Now what?" He asked.

"To the library." Nanao said, looking down the hall.

* * *

Moonlight shone down on Kyoto, lighting the large room of a mansion on top of a hill.

A small boy sat sideways on the windowsill, knees pulled up to his chest, staring out at the dark sky and the lights of the historical city below. It was such a beautiful sight, the stars and the lights of the city became one against an almost black background.

Yumichika sighed, bringing his hands up to take out the deep blue ribbon holding his nearly waist length hair up. He hadn't cut it properly since...well, ever. Mizaki cut off the split ends every now and again, but he refused to cut it short like it used to be. Not for a long while anyway. His last proper haircut was a brutal one, when most of his long hair got hacked off in the middle of battle. Caught in the crossfire you might say.

Looking out once again, he went over in his mind what had happened in the past few days.

Seeing Ikkaku again made him realise just how much he missed him. The past ten years he had tried to lock it away, lock away the memories and feelings that came with leaving everything you cared about behind. But now he couldn't do it anymore, and he felt something inside him break, and a single tear slid down his cheek, more following silently.

"Hey Yumi-chan." Two voices jolted him out of his misery, and he turned to see his sister and Matsumoto standing in the doorway, smiles on their faces, which quickly faded when the pair saw the shining tears on his face.

"Ah, well, sorry." Matsumoto started. "I'll -uh- leave you two."

"What?" Mizaki hissed.

"Well, he is your brother."

Mizaki faltered. "Fair enough."

Matsumoto turned and quickly left, leaving the twins alone.

Mizaki didn't say anything, she simply moved to the window, and joined him, swinging her legs around so they were hanging over the edge as she balanced herself on the not so wide windowsill.

"You don't have to talk now if you don't want to." She said softly. "But if you do ever want someone to talk to, I'm always here."

There was a moment of silence, before a small voice came from the silence.

"I miss him."

"I know honey, I know you do." Mizaki comforted, or at least tried to. She had never really been good at this...she had lived most of her life after he left on her own, and it always seemed to be her that needed comforting.

"No." Yumichika said. "I don't think you do."

Mizaki looked confused, and a little insulted. "Go on."

"He's always been there." The smaller started. "I met him only a year or two after I ran away from home. A fight hungry, loud, rude and strong bald guy. I didn't think much of him at first, but then...well...."

* * *

"_At least tell me who you are." He heard the man call from behind. Yumichika turned to look back, smirking slightly._

"_Yumichika." He said, smiling. "Ayasegawa Yumichika. And you?"_

"_Madarame Ikkaku."_

"_I'll look you up." He grinned, before turning and continuing his walk into the darkness._

_----_

"_Well, you certainly didn't waste any time did you?" Yumichika smirked, raising his eyebrows at the smirking man in front of him the next evening._

"_Why would I do that?" Ikkaku said, grinning even harder. "I don't care if you don't want to fight, you're gonna'"_

"_Oh really?" Yumichika chuckled, not moving, even when the bald took a fighting stance. "Alright, since you seem so desperate."_

"_Good." Ikkaku said, before launching himself at the smaller man. A collective gasp went up from the crowd that had gathered as he quickly dodged the blow, moving to the side and in a flash had drawn his sword to block the next attack._

"_You're pretty good." Ikkaku said after a few strikes from both of them._

"_You would be too if you had been trained night and day by an obsessive father." Yumichika replied, spinning to dodge another strike._

"_You've been trained?"_

"_Of course. Have you seen me? I don't exactly look like fighting material, I would be dead in a matter of months if I wasn't."_

"_I suppose you're right." Ikkaku swung out again, but quickly found himself on the floor, his sword yanked out from his surprise-loosened grip, and a foot pressing down on his back. "Wha'?"_

"_Well, I suppose that settles it then." Yumichika whispered, close to his ear. He threw the others mans sword at the ground, so it was sticking up from the dirt, only inches from the bald's nose._

_

* * *

_

"I don't really remember much after that, but he found me again, and before I knew it, we were travelling together. I can't remember going five minutes without seeing that guy from then on."

"I'm hoping that's a exaggeration." Mizaki said. Yumichika looked at her like she was stupid. "Of course it is, of course it is. But, you two sound pretty close."

"Yeah. Pretty close." He repeated softly, looking out at the sky. He tried not to think about it, tried not to think about him.

"If you hold it in, you'll only make it worse." Mizaki said, turning her face to the city and sky.

Yumichika felt the dam inside him that had been slowly building up, break down. And, as tears slowly began to escape his eyes once more, he found himself crawling into his sisters lap, salty water streaming from his eyes as he buried his face into her shoulder.

Mizaki used one hand to balance herself, the other to wrap around the small boy, both to comfort and to stop him from falling, though, if the grip around her neck was anything to go by, if he fell, she would surely be going with him. Sighing, she moved her hand up to stroke his hair as he sobbed quietly into her dressing gown.

"I miss him. So much." He murmured. "I miss everything."

"I know, and I'm not pretending I know how you feel, but I can sympathize. I lost someone dear to me too. I found him again, but I lost him for a long time, and then I got shipped off here, away from where I had grown up, away from my family who I loved."

Yumichika fell silent.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her shoulder.

"Nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry I didn't go with you."

Yumichika lifted his head and sat back slightly. Unfortunately this made Mizaki loose her balance on the windowsill, and the pair toppled backwards, landing with a bang on the hard floor.

Despite the pain blooming from his shoulder, Yumichika laughed. A true laugh. Not a small chuckle behind his hand, or a I'm-better-than-you laugh. But a full on, side-splitting laugh.

Mizaki, even though she was shocked, both from the fall and the giggles emanating from beside her, began to snigger, before she joined in fully, closing her eyes in amusement.

Once the pair had calmed down enough for them to breathe almost normally again, they stared at the ceiling in a comfortable silence.

"You know, let's just say we're both sorry and leave it at that." Yumichika broke the silence.

"I can do that." Mizaki agreed, lifting her leg from where it was propped up on the windowsill, and tried to stand, staggering a little. She helped the smaller up, making sure not to hurt his shoulder after he loudly alerted her to the injury.

"Now. How about a small midnight snack? I'm thinking ice-cream...with lots of chocolate."

"And sauce, and sprinkles." Yumichika contributed, smiling.

"Of course, come on, let's go, before Matsumoto gets a hold of the ice-cream."

* * *

**A/N: Soooo tired. I want sleep, but I couldn't until this was finished and posted. I hope it's okay. A few notes, I always imagined Yumichika to be the stronger one when he first met Ikkaku, and in this Universe, he was trained beforehand, so I guess he would be anyway. Hopefully more flashbacks coming soon, looking further into their meeting and travels.**

**Thank you to all those who reviewed. Cookies for all! Keep them coming, they are my inspiration (Along with Yumi, but thats a different story ^^)  
**


	12. Finally getting somewhere

The soft evening light shone through half open blinds, illuminating the four shinigami who were hard at work.

Well...one of them was anyway.

Ise Nanao flicked through yet another book, looking up whatever she could on Zanpaktou's and everything about them. But she had yet to find out what happens to one after a shinigami dies.

Ikkaku had dropped his head onto the pages of a book in frustration. They had spent nearly all day here, with a lunch break, and they had found nothing. Big fat nothing. Renji had fallen asleep at a table in the corner, Kira had been called back to his division for paperwork and other vice-captainly duties, and Hisagi was slowly turning pages of a book, not really paying attention to what he was looking at, but trying to make it look like he was doing something.

"This is going nowhere!" Ikkaku suddenly exclaimed, making Hisagi jump out of his stupor, and echoing around the room.

Nanao sighed, slamming the book she was reading shut with a soft thump. "We're in a library...shut up!" She growled.

"I didn't even know we had a library until last night." Ikkaku snarled back. "We're not getting anywhere with this."

The glasses-wearing shinigami sighed again, pushing her glasses up her nose so the light reflected off them. "You're right, I can't find anything." She stood up, moving to the window. "Well, let's go over the facts...what do we know about this thief?" She asked.

"All I know is that he was a kid, pretty good with a sword, quite good at kidou and that he stole my best friends sword." Ikkaku said, practically spitting out the last part.

"No name?"

"No, nothing."

"And he was wearing a mask, so he obviously didn't want anyone to know who he was." The girl sat back down, staring at floor, her mind hard at work. "This could be for two reasons, either he doesn't want anyone to track him down, or somebody here knows who he is, and he doesn't want them to know it was him."

Hisagi's head shot up as a thought hit him.

"You know something?" Nanao asked him.

"I...I did...it's gone now..." He paused, wondering whether he should tell them. "I have a theory, but I need to go ask someone about it first." The dark-haired man said, standing up. Before anyone could say anything, he marched out the room, his mind racing.

It couldn't be...? Could it? But the pieces all fit. The Ryokya was a kid, from the living world, probably about ten years old or so, and Yumichika died ten years ago. And they had broken in on the anniversary of the death, a clever date, the day Ikkaku spent depressed, and so wasn't himself for a few days before and after. Then there was the sword, why else would they want it? He couldn't think of another reason. Everything seemed to fit.

It wasn't long before he found himself back in the tenth division. He quickly walked to the captains office, knocking on the door.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya's voice sounded from inside.

Hisagi slid open the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

"Do you know who the Ryokya was?" He asked, stepping in front of the desk. Hitsugaya looked up at him, his face blank. "Please." Hisagi said. "I know Matsumoto knew, surely she would have told you."

"She didn't." The white haired captain said. Hisagi's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I worked it out for myself, she only confirmed my theory."

Hisagi leant forward. "Then tell me who."

"I cannot, my vice-captain asked me specifically not to tell anyone unless they already knew."

"And if I said I knew who they were?"

"Then I would be able to confirm it." The captain placed his brush down and leant his chin on one hand.

"It's Ayasegawa Yumichika." Hisagi stated, smirking slightly when Hitsugaya blinked in surprise, only for a brief moment, but enough to confirm his suspicions. The captain sighed, closing his eyes.

"Yes, it is." He said, looking back up. "But before you go rushing off to tell the world, don't."

"Don't what? Tell anyone?" Hitsugaya nodded. "But why? What about Ikkaku? Won't he be happy?"

"Maybe, but Ayasegawa is a child now, won't that be a little weird?" The taller of the two bit back a retort, thinking about it. It was a little weird, seeing someone who you were once friends with as a ten year old. "And besides, I heard Madarame hurt him quite badly in a fight. So much so he passed out. If he knew what he had done, wouldn't he feel a little guilty?"

"That's true." He bit down on his lip, thinking hard.

"And even if Madarame did know, Ayasegawa could be anywhere in the world. It would be hard to find him. Right now, the best thing to do is bite your tongue and wait." Hitsugaya said, standing up to put a couple of books in a drawer near the desk. "It's obvious he was reincarnated with his memories, as rare as that is, give it a few years and I'm sure he'll be back, and older."

Hisagi sighed, leaning on the desk. "Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Thank you." Hitsugaya said, sitting back down. "Now, is there anything else you want?"

* * *

A tall strawberry blonde dragged her feet down the streets of Kyoto, sweating in the summer heat and in exhaustion after killing yet another batch of hollows that had turned up. She stared up at the pounding sun, pulling a hair tie from her pocket and pulling her hair into a high ponytail to keep it off her neck.

It had been two years since she had arrived in Kyoto. Two long years, and the hollow problem had still not been sorted out. Something had to be feeding them in from outside the city. Sure it's a large city, with lots of souls, but there must be larger in Japan, why are they all gathering here? It was a question they still can't answer, despite all the research gone into it.

She was dreading going back to the mansion. The atmosphere had been incredibly tense over the past few days.

Yumichika and Mizaki were refusing to talk to each other. The younger had a break down three days before, under the all the stress. Not only did he have school to deal with, but the Bankai training, along with dealing with everyday hollows began to get to him, and he cracked under the pressure, getting into a huge argument with his sister and storming out the house. He stayed with Momoko that night, not wanting to come home until he had cooled down. But even when he did come home, he didn't want to talk to Mizaki, and she refused to talk to him.

Practically crawling up the long flight of stairs leading up to the house, she thought about what she could do to try and get them to make up.

She went through every possibility her tired brain could think of...

Sake.

Shopping.

Sake.

Ummm....chocolate...?

A big, large, ice-cold drink...

This wasn't helping...she pulled out a key from her back pocket and let herself into the cool house. She took a deep breath of chilly air of the air-conditioned house, shutting the door behind her and she dropped the keys on the small table by the door. Not wasting any time, she made her way to the large kitchen to make that ice-cold drink that had been on her mind all the way up the stairs.

But, sliding open the door she found Yumichika sitting on the side near the sink, staring into a tall glass in his hand.

"Hey." She announced herself, smiling as she walked in and closed the door. The smaller looked up, smiling ever so slightly. He was starting to look a lot more like the Yumichika they all used to know. A few more years and he'll be back to usual. Or close enough at any rate. He almost seemed to be growing into his eyes, which had been huge when she had met him two years ago. The large purple orbs seemed smaller now, but the boy was a fair bit taller than he was then. His hair was longer too. It was hip length now, and every so often he would tie it into a high ponytail. He had cut a choppy fringe in last time he had cut it, and two chest length strands either side of his face, which were often tied close to the bottom to keep them neat.

"Hey Rangiku-san" He said, sipping his drink. "If you want a drink there's a huge bag of ice in the freezer I think. We need to get some more though, Mizaki got through a lot." He scowled, sighing deeply.

"I think we're all going to get through a lot." Matsumoto said. "It's stifling outside. Lovely in here though." She smiled, ducking into the freezer with her glass to scoop out some ice. "Look," she sighed. "What's going on between you and your sister?"

Yumichika bit his lip, staring into the sink. "It's just all the pressure she's putting on me. Education is compulsory at the moment, and will be for some time, and she can't pull me out, and the education people apparently need proof that you're actually getting an education if you go into private tutoring, so that won't work. I have to pass the exams with okay grades there to carry on to the next year, so I have to do that. I have kidou training to worry about...even though that's coming to an end soon, and then there's my Bankai training, which at the moment is my top priority, and I've only just reached materialization. Put on top of that everyday hollow erasing, eating, and sleeping and you have the recipe for unbelievable stress." He took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

Matsumoto thought for a moment. "So what you need is a few hours to yourself every day. And the only way to get past that is to drop something." She leant on the bench top, head in hand. "How about...how about I become your 'private tutor'?" She said, standing up fully.

"What?"

"Well, How about I become your private tutor? Then you can drop school, and have a few more hours to yourself every day. Or Aimi could do it, and maybe put in a hour or so of healing lessons a week. They're always handy."

Yumichika looked sceptical. "I don't know. It might work."

"We'll try. We'll go up to the school and talk to them. See if we can get them to believe it." She smiled reassuringly at him. "If not, well, at least we tried."

"Alright...I suppose we could try."

* * *

"I cannot believe that worked!" The tall blonde laughed the next day as they walked away from the school.

Yumichika chuckled, grinning widely. The principal at the school had actually believed that Matsumoto, of all people, was to be his private tutor. Of course it may have something to do with the family. Tanaka was a very highly thought of family, with a lot of money. He supposed they could do whatever they wanted to do. Trust his parents to marry Mizaki off to a family like that...even if they were alive, and Mizaki wasn't.

Mizaki...

_...I should apologize._

* * *

As it turned out, he didn't need to. Mizaki was pretty apologetic herself once they let themselves into the large house. And Yumichika tried, he really tried to apologize for yelling, but just couldn't get a word in edgeways.

Was Mizaki always this chatty?

"Mizaki." He deadpanned. Nothing, he couldn't even hear what she was saying anymore. "Mizaki!" He tried to yell, before remembering her husband was home for the weekend, and tried to keep his voice low. In the end he resorted to flicking her forehead.

"What?" She asked, suddenly shutting up.

"Quiet will you." Yumichika said. "Seriously, look, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled, but I was stressed out, you weren't really helping and I snapped, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, I know you were only trying to help." His sister smiled warmly. "We've found a solution now, so we've got far more free time as of...next Thursday."

"I heard about the plan, Rangiku-san told me last night. I assume it worked? And you are forgiven, I know it takes a lot for you to say that."

"Let's finish this later you two." Aimi cut in, throwing open the door, a panicked expression on her face and her dark brown hair in a mess, holding a small device in her hand. "You too Rangiku-san"

"Oh not again." Matsumoto sighed. "I just got rid of loads this morning."

"I know you did, but it would seem there are even more, and they're really close, like, just outside close." Aimi explained. "And It looks as if Soul Society decided to send reinforcements."

"Who?" Yumichika asked.

"Umm... The message says they've sent Abarai-san, and Madarame-san, along with reinforcements."

"And these are the weird, kidou only hollows?" Matsumoto asked. Aimi nodded.

"So," Yumichika said, "they've pretty much just sent the most useless shinigami in Soul Society."

"Sounds like it." The strawberry-blonde agreed, groaning. "We need to go help, but they can't know about you, and you're still only twelve." She said, pointing to the smallest of the group. "Do you still have that cloak you wore when you broke in?"

"Yeah, somewhere."

"Good." Matsumoto said. "I would say just use your Zanpaktou, but they might recognise it. Reckon you've got enough kidou knowledge?" She asked.

Yumichika nodded. "I know all the ones that can kill these. And I've had nearly all the spells banged into my head for the past ten years. I'll be fine, I can fight without my Zanpaktou."

"Course if it gets really bad, you will have to use it." Mizaki pointed out. "It's the only thing that can get rid of most of them at once. Now let's stop chatting here and go kick some hollow butt!"

Aimi and Matsumoto cheered, and ran out the door, leaping into the air after swallowing their soul pills. Aimi got as far as the roof before stopping to set up a area for healing, she knew they would need it. Yumichika simply told his sister never to say that again before separating from his body and darting up the stairs, to find the cloak. Mizaki grumbled something before running outside, finding her front garden turned into a battlefield.

"You people are so lucky I wanted to redesign the garden." She deadpanned, narrowing her eyes, a silently uttered kidou spell growing in her hand. Just as she was about to throw it at an unsuspecting hollow, a blue blur shot past her, destroying the strange creature. She turned just in time to see her brother shoot past and leap into the fray.

Grinning, she turned back to the battle and followed suit.

* * *

**A/N: Yay, another useless chapter. Sorry guys, I promise something will definately happen next time and then it's skip forward a bit, and the real action begins *Evil laugh* Sorry about the long wait, had to finish my coursework and hand it in. And I'm off to Wales next week for five days, so I thought I'd update now or you'd end up with an even longer wait.**

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews, do keep them coming, I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can. **

**(Just thought I'd add, who else is extremely disappointed by the lack of Yumi in the recent fillers in the Anime? It's terrible, haven't seen him in weeks... I do hope they had a good reason for it.)  
**


	13. Three More Years

It was a simple mission. A large amount of hollows had gathered around a home in Kyoto, and Ikkaku and Renji had been asked to lead a group out there to get rid of them, and see if they could find out why they had gathered there.

Well, it should have been simple.

Ikkaku slashed at another hollow, howling in annoyance as it simply regenerated itself. They just weren't dying! No matter what he did. He turned to another and swung down at its head, cracking the mask, and the head, clean down the middle. That should work.

...no, it didn't.

With a growl, he simply fended off all the hollows, all the while attempting to get his communicator out his pocket to send for somebody who knew kidou, hating the fact that he had to call for help. For that's what they were, he hoped.

He was just about to swing at another hollow, when a red light flashed and the creature disappeared.

Ikkaku stared at the empty space in pure surprise. Did Renji already call? But, they couldn't have got here that quickly. It wasn't possible. It was only when a claw narrowly missed him did he realise he was still in the middle of battle. Not thinking any more of the mysterious Kidou user, he spun round and sliced at the hollow behind him.

However, nothing seemed to be dying. Of course. This was hopeless.

It was then a brown blur shot past him, and he had to take a step back in surprise and to stop the kid from accidently hitting him. He stared in shock and almost wonder at the boy, brown cloak covering most of his body, mask pulled up over the lower half of his face, who was only just over half his own height dodge and shoot at the hollows surrounding him.

How was this kid so good? He could only be Twelve? Eleven?

'_Hold on',_ The bald shinigami thought, as recognition kicked in, '_that's that Ryokya kid that broke in two years ago!' _His eyes narrowed, lifting his sword to block another strike from a hollow. So were they on their side?

He saw Matsumoto on the other side of the field, fighting side by side with another girl wearing shorts and a t-shirt. The other Ryokya. From what he could see in the little light they had that night. And on the roof he noticed Hayashi Aimi healing injured soldiers inside a protection field. She was the only one on his good side right now.

Despite the amount of hollows now dying, they didn't seem to be getting anywhere, there was still too many.

* * *

Yumichika was throwing spells left and right, but they kept coming.

_**Use it.**_ His Zanpaktou said in his head. The pair had actually managed to overcome their problems over the past two years. After hours upon hours of meditating, Yumichika finally had a good relationship with Ruri'iro Kujaku.

_I don't think it's going to be enough._

_**Maybe not, but it'll get rid of most of them, then you and Mizaki can finish the rest.**_

_Alright._ The small shinigami sighed, before yelling over to his sister. "Mizaki! I need you to watch my back! Get over here!" He saw his sister turn and run in his direction, hopping on hollows heads rather than squeezing past all of them.

"You going to use it?" She asked.

Yumichika nodded. "I need you to block Ikkaku's view, I know he'll recognise the sword, and I don't think I can deal with that right now."

"I can understand that." Mizaki said, looking around for the bald shinigami, spotting him not too far away, and moving to block his view, hands glowing with unleashed kidou spells. She watched in mild amusement as the bald shinigami continued to slice and jab at the hollows, even though he knew he couldn't kill them.

"Split and Deviate..." She heard Yumichika say behind her, softly spoken, but still powerful. "Ruri'iro Kujaku."

* * *

Renji had just attempted another kidou spell. The spell itself didn't go so well, half of it blasted back into his face, but it did the job, as the hollow disintegrated. He spotted Ikkaku not far away, attempting to kill the hollows, failing miserably, and chuckled quietly.

Of course this chuckle was quickly cut off when another hollow leapt at him, long teeth gleaming in the afternoon sun.

He ducked to avoid it, but nothing leapt past him. He glanced up, wide eyed at the sight in front of him.

The hollow was still there, but glowing vines had wrapped themselves around the creature, and it was writhing and struggling, looking like it was getting weaker every second.

Looking around, the redhead noticed nearly all the hollows were in the same predicament, and those that weren't were being blasted by that other girl, the dark-haired one that he remembered was standing by the door in Soul Society, waiting for that kid to follow her through.

_What the heck is going on? _He thought, standing up to look around properly. Ikkaku looked to be just as confused as he was, his mouth wide open at the spectacle.

Renji followed one of the many strands with his eyes, tracing it back to the little kid in the brown cloak.

_Whoa!_ He couldn't help but think. _How does that kid have so much power? He's got to be, what? Eleven? _Renji watched in utter amazement as buds began to bloom on the vines, quickly opening into flowers. The hollows began to disintegrate, the flowers dropping off and the vines slithering back to their master.

His eyes wandered back over to Ikkaku, who, if it was actually possible, looked even more shocked than before. The redhead quickly walked over.

"I know it's quite amazing, but what are you so shocked about?"He asked, holding his sword over his shoulder.

"I've seen that before." Ikkaku said, not taking his eyes off the glowing flowers. "That day, the day Yumi died, those flowers were falling."

Renji raised his eyebrows, and turned back to the flowers, and the kid, who, now all the hollows had disappeared, was talking to Matsumoto and the other girl.

"What do you think it means?" He asked, but the bald shinigami was no longer standing next to him. "H-hey!" He looked ahead, seeing him storming up to the small group. Renji watched as the kid backed up slightly, moving away from the inevitable.

"Stand down!" He yelled at the soldiers behind him, who were still on alert, swords raised. "And wait here!" With that he Shunpo-ed over to the group, landing just behind the cloaked child.

* * *

Yumichika quickly took a few steps back as he noticed Ikkaku storming towards them, glaring, and holding one of the glowing flowers in one hand. Before he could yell anything at the smallest of the group, Mizaki stepped in front of him protectively.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice, all the while keeping her gaze hard and deadly, but mouth in a totally (or not) innocent smile. Yumichika couldn't help but smirk at how alike they were. After all, that was the first thing he said to the bald when they broke into Soul Society two years ago.

"Yeah, ya' can! Explain this!" He said holding up the flower. The small boy's eyes widened.

"What about them?" Mizaki asked innocently.

"I know I've seen these before! Twelve and a half years ago."

Yumichika swallowed hard. _He saw! How could he have seen? _

"What? Just the flowers, or the whole attack?" Mizaki asked, hands on her hips.

"Just the flowers." Yumichika let out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes. He opened them when he heard Mizaki speak again.

"And care to tell me why you're so annoyed?"

Ikkaku faltered, making both the twins smirk. Yumichika's grin was quickly wiped off his face when another presence suddenly appeared behind him, making the smaller jump. He turned around and looked up.

Looking quizzically down at him was Renji, his hair appearing even brighter in the summer sun. The larger raised his eyebrows, while the smaller just stared back with wide eyes.

"I just don't see how someone your age can be so powerful." The redhead mumbled. "Are you actually alive? As in, you're not from soul society?" Yumichika shook his head.

"I'm alive. What of it?"

"You can only be, how old? Eleven?"

"Twelve actually."

"Nope, can't understand it. I saw some of those spells you were using. Most I couldn't do if I tried, and the others took me years to learn. You can't have been training for that long. And then there's your Zanpaktou." Yumichika unconsciously wrapped the cloak tighter around himself, despite the heat of the sun. "Doesn't it take decades to release it?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Yumichika said quietly. "You'll find out eventually, but for now just leave it, I'm not allowed to tell you the answers just yet."

Renji stood up fully, making Yumichika realise just how small he actually was against the larger man. He had always been smaller than most of the guys, but this made him feel tiny. "Fine then." The redhead said, stepping around the boy and moving to stand next to Ikkaku, who was, by now, having a rather heated argument with Mizaki as to 'how the hell that kid could have been there twelve years ago?'. With Mizaki answering with some pretty good arguments. "But we will come back." Renji said, looking at both of the siblings, Matsumoto and Aimi choosing to stay out of it.

"Give us three years." Yumichika said, Ikkaku and Mizaki stopping to listen in. "Then come back and you'll get all your answers."

"Three years!" Ikkaku exclaimed, running a hand over his head. "Are you serious? You really expect me to wait that long?"

"Yes." Yumichika said simply, keeping his gaze even and calm.

A sudden crack behind him made everyone freeze and look up. Feeling his Zanpaktou spirit panic slightly, Yumichika slowly turned around, coming face to face with a smaller hollow, long teeth dripping with blood.

The small boy froze up, taking short and sharp breaths, wanting to do something, wanting to kill it, but finding he couldn't do anything. It was the same hollow, from that day twelve years ago. There was a crippling fear inside him that stopped him from moving as he remembered the pain. Not just for him, but the pain he saw on his best friends face as he was dying.

"Hello." The creature hissed, making Yumichika wince visibly. It smirked, before slowly opening its mouth, making the boy whimper softly, hating this feeling of fear growing inside him.

Both Mizaki and Matsumoto immediately took action. Mizaki leapt forward, blasting the hollow with a high level spell, cracking the mask clean in two. Matsumoto grabbed Yumichika, wrenching his gaze away from the creature, and pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping one arm round his body, with the other hand on his head. What really scared her is that he didn't react at all, he just stood there, still as a statue.

"It's okay. It's okay." She whispered repeatedly, trying to calm him down. When she heard his breathing even and calm she gently let go, keeping both hands on his shoulders. Looking down at his face, shocked at what she saw. Not even as a kid has she seen him like this. Tears were forming in the corners of large violet eyes, which were staring hard at the ground, but she saw real fear in the purple eyes, something no one thought possible in the eleventh division. She looked up when Mizaki appeared next to them, Aimi standing alongside. The latter put a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, almost making him jump.

"You were actually scared of that thing?" A low voice brought the group out of their moment, all four looking up at Ikkaku. "It's tiny, barely even a warm-up. If it wasn't for the whole Kidou thing."

"Yeah but-" Mizaki started.

"That's what most people think." Yumichika cut her off, speaking quietly, but trying hard to keep his voice steady. "That's what I thought. But it's smart, bloody fast and sneaky." He looked back down at the ground. "It destroyed everything I knew, and it will continue to destroy until whoever's controlling them gets what they want."

Silence followed his statement.

"So..." Renji said, breaking the hush after a few moments, "Three years. See you then." He nodded. Yumichika just rolled his eyes.

"I suppose you're not going to say any more on it, so I'm guessing we just have to wait, right? And I'll just have to wait to get my friends Zanpaktou back?" Ikkaku asked, and the cloaked boy nodded, keeping his gaze calm, despite the tears that were still in the corners of his eyes, ruining the image somewhat.

"Fine. Three years, and then we'll come back." The group nodded in agreement, and Yumichika cracked a small, if unseen smile. The pair turned and began their journey back, calling for al uninjured soldiers to follow with those that were too injured to walk.

Once far out of earshot, Yumichika relaxed, pulling his hood off and mask down, breathing in the fresh air.

"Thank god that's over." He muttered, closing his eyes and putting his hand in his pockets.

But he felt something strange in the long pockets of the shinigami uniform. Something not meant to be there. Gripping the object with slender fingers he pulled them out.

In his hand were four thin coloured feathers.

"Huh?" Mizaki looked down at what he was holding. "What are those?"

"Hey, aren't they what you used to..." Matsumoto trailed off, gesturing her face. Yumichika nodded. "Maybe it's time to let it go." The strawberry blonde continued softly, all eyes turning to her, questioning. "You've changed so much since you died, despite how weird that sounds. And for the better in my opinion. Sure, you still go off about beauty every now and again, but definitely not as much. Let them go, show that you've changed." She smiled.

Yumichika smiled softly back, and, once he felt the breeze was strong enough, let go, watching the feathers blow away in the wind, over the roof of the house and into the sky.

"There, now come on, it's still bloody hot out here and I need a nice cold drink." Matsumoto said, putting a hand on Yumichika's shoulder.

Then, just as they were about to turn and leave, another voice rang out, clearly furious and slightly confused.

"What the hell happened here?"

Mizaki froze, recognising her husband's voice.

"Ah, crap. I am in so much trouble."

* * *

**A/N: Yikes, so sorry about the wait, work and writers block. But all my college work is handed in now, only got a few exams then it's all over, at least until september. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter...told you something will happen, next chapter skips a bit, so more action coming up ^-^ oh, and theres another poll up on my profile, do go and check it out if you have time, and review, if you want, I enjoy reading what you all think. **

**EDIT 17/05/10: I can't believe I forgot this...Yumichika's Bankai should be coming up in the next few chapters and I really need ideas, I'm coming up with a blank here, so message or review your ideas in, I would love to see what you come up with and I really need to use something...so whoever's idea I pick will get....cookies (as usual) and the chapter it first appears in dedicated to them ^-^....or something  
**


	14. What Have You Done To The Garden?

"MIZAKI!" the loud voice of Tanaka Kazuki rang out over the destroyed garden. Mizaki flinched, moving to hide behind Rangiku. "DON'T MOVE!" Kazuki yelled, storming over the rubble, his face murderous. This was one of the few times they had actually seen Tanaka Kazuki, he was plain looking, short dark hair and glasses, he wore a typical businessman's suit and tie. Yumichika, Rangiku and Aimi took a few steps out of the way, leaving Mizaki completely exposed.

"Thanks you guys." Mizaki hissed, glaring at the trio out of the corner of her eye. The three just shrugged, taking another step backwards as Kazuki got closer.

"What the hell have you done to my garden?" Kazuki yelled as soon as he reached the dark haired girl.

"Our garden." She mumbled, looking around at the remains of the once beautiful and flowered garden, which was now turned over, dirt covering everything and the colourful flowers scattered everywhere. Kazuki was fuming even more.

"THE garden!" He was certainly getting pissed off. "What have you done?"

Mizaki avoided eye contact, staring up at the sky. "Uh, well you see what happened..." She trailed off, trying to think of a plausible story to feed him, coming up with nothing that he could possibly believe.

"Mizaki." He growled, closing his eyes in annoyance. "Do you really think I married you without knowing what you are? My entire family has been connected with yours for over a hundred years. I know you're not alive and I know what attacked, I was taught this as soon as I was told I was getting married. I just don't understand how you caused so much damage fighting them."

"Um..Actually..." Yumichika started, stepping forward slightly.

"Not from you." Kazuki snapped. Yumichika took two steps back, blinking in shock, the larger man was practically seething. "I want to hear this from Mizaki."

Mizaki was wide eyed, staring at her husband in horror. "I...I don't really know how to explain it...they were more powerful than we had expected. And I'm starting to think that whatever they're after, it's not only here in Kyoto, but right here with us."

Aimi and Rangiku glanced at each other in worry, then down at Yumichika, who was frozen to the spot.

'_Probably still scared of Kazuki.' _Rangiku thought, smiling slightly. However the smile quickly disappeared as Mizaki continued.

"Please Kazuki, we'll sort out the garden, I wanted to redesign it anyway, and we'll do everything in our power to sort out this hollow problem as quickly as possible, without causing anymore damage to the house." She said softly, looking at the ground.

"And yourself." Kazuki said, shocking the girl. Her head shot up, seeing Kazuki looking at her with calm eyes and a soft smile on his face. He reached up and wiped her cheek gently. Mizaki jumped when a pang of pain shot from her cheek. Kazuki's hand came away with fingers dripping with blood.

Mizaki brought both hands up to her cheek, feeling the wetness and sting, and wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. '_I suppose I haven't really been paying attention to myself. With all that's happened, it's not really a surprise. But Kazuki...' _She smiled wide. _' He does care about me.'_

"Come on you lot." Kazuki said loudly. "Let's get you cleaned up and I'll get someone to sort us out with a large cold drink."

Everyone's face lit up, relieved that he wasn't too mad.

"And then you can get on with cleaning up and re-doing the garden."

Four faces fell, and they all groaned, before filing into the cool house, Rangiku, Aimi and Yumichika getting their bodies back along the way.

* * *

"Is he asleep?" Mizaki asked as Rangiku quietly closed the living room door.

"Yeah, no matter what he says, he's still a kid." The strawberry blonde said, sitting down next to Aimi, who was staring aimlessly into space, fingers closed around a glass of water. "So what is it you want to speak to us about so secretly?"

Mizaki sat back against the mountain of cushions she had collected from around the house, a serious look on her face. "It's about earlier. The attack and what these hollows are after. It just hit me after we killed that last hollow Yumi was so scared of."

The pair on the sofa nodded, encouraging her to carry on.

"They want Yumichika." Mizaki said bluntly. Rangiku stared in shock, and Aimi nearly dropped her glass, spilling a little bit of water on the carpet.

"What? But why? And how did you work that out?"

"I don't know why, I'm thinking it probably has something to do with his Zanpaktou, I mean, his Shikai is powerful enough, his Bankai would probably make him a very, very powerful shinigami, and one of the few that can defeat whatever is attacking us." She took a sip of tea. "And it was quite simple to work out, Rangiku, how many attacks from these hollows do you reckon Soul Society has had, and when?"

Rangiku put a finger to her lips, thinking. "Not too many I suppose. They started about thirteen years ago, we had one every few months, then they just stopped. Then, according to the reports, the was another about two years back, but that was it."

"That proves it then. They disappeared from Soul Society when Yumichika died. They started attacking Kyoto when he was born here. We've had hollow problems ever since. They attacked Soul Society two years ago, probably just after we broke in and escaped. And now they attack the house. It all fits."

Rangiku closed her eyes. "Crap." She breathed, leaning back. "Are you going to tell him?"

"No." Mizaki said. "He'll just either start blaming himself, or might even disappear because of it, thinking we'll get hurt or something. For now, keep quiet."

* * *

_It rained that day. _

_Typical. _

"_Ikkaku." A knock on the door, and Zaraki's gruff voice drifted through the wood, falling on deaf ears. "It's time. You can't miss the funeral." When he got no answer, he sighed, pushing the door open and looking round the dim room, before his eyes fell upon his third seat, lying on one of the two futons on the ground. The bald did not respond. _

_The large captain closed his eyes in annoyance, and slight sympathy. "Fine." He said, turning to leave. "I'm not going to force you to come, but I don't think the fruitcake will be happy if you miss this." And with that he left, slamming the door behind him, leaving the bald to wallow in his own grief. _

_It wasn't that Ikkaku didn't want to go, not at all, it was more he didn't want the whole world to see him break down, he couldn't handle it. They could just take their sympathy and piss off, he didn't need it. _

_Taking a deep breath, he rolled over, staring out the window at the pouring rain. _

_He couldn't remember a time when he had felt like this, like he was hollow, unfeeling, save the almost overwhelming grief. _

_It had been two months, two long, unbelievably long, months. It wasn't a proper funeral, it never was around here, they were souls, and the souls simply moved onto the next life, so they had a memorial time, which they called a funeral. That's what got him the most though, knowing that the fifth seat would be reincarnated in the living world, but if they ever bumped into him, on a mission, he would not recognise them._

_Yes, that's what he was scared of... 'Who are you?' _

_The bald wondered how much the reincarnation would resemble Yumichika, both in personality and looks. _

_Looks would be apparent. You couldn't look that good and not be reincarnated with at least some of the appearance you once had. But personality...that would be hard, most come back completely different to what they were, while some retain a few of their traits. _

_He sighed again. What the captain said was true. If he was here now, Yumichika would kick his ass if he didn't turn up, if only to make sure it was a beautiful funeral, which, judging by the people who were organising the damn thing, and looking at the weather, it probably won't be. _

_With a tired groan, Ikkaku pushed himself up and off the futon, stumbling slightly as the blood rushed to his head. He made his way to the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face, attempting to make himself slightly presentable, even though the rain would probably ruin it all anyway. _

_After standing at the door and staring at the empty room for a few moments, before turning and making his way out of Serietei and towards the graveyard. _

_All he could hear while walking was the rain, splattering on the ground and his head. It was still winter, so the trees were still bare and colourless, as was the rest of the landscape, at least to him. _

_It didn't him long to find the group, the large figure of his captain was easy to pick out against the, surprisingly large group. As he got closer, he noticed most of the eleventh division gathered, along with a few others from other divisions, including the vice-captains of the third, sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth._

_Kira was the first to notice the third seat, and stepped out of the way. The rest of the shinigami followed suit, forming a pathway through the crowd. _

_Ikkaku walked forward, not looking at any of the shinigami on either side of him, and knelt in front of the plaque, not caring if he looked pathetic or weak. _

Ayasegawa Yumichika

11th Division

Died in combat

_And the last part, part of it obviously done by the captain:_

Damn good fighter and will be forever missed.

_The bald ran his fingers over the carving, feeling the cold splatters of water on his head and shoulders. He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. _

_He started when a large hand landed on his shoulder, and looked up at his captain, Yachiru looking seriously, for once, over his shoulder. Glancing around, he noticed everyone else surrounding him, their faces sympathetic and caring, tears mixed with the rain. _

"_We'll get through this, we'll all help you." The large captain said, and a ghost of a smile found its way into Ikkaku's face. _

_It would take a long time. But he'll get through.

* * *

_

Ikkaku stood in front of the gate leading into the living world, looking up at the large gates.

Three years had passed since he was last in that world. The kid said three years, so three years it was. He didn't know why, but there was an odd feeling of nervousness in his stomach, which was strange for him, along with something akin to the feeling he got right before battle.

"Oi, Ikkaku!" Renji's voice made the bald spin around, wide eyed. Standing behind him was the redhead, surrounded by a large group. Zaraki and Yachiru, Kira, Hisagi, Iba, Nanao ("I only want to find out the answers to this whole thing.") and Hitsugaya.

"Don't think you'll be going on your own." Zaraki smirked, a grinning Yachiru on his shoulder.

"Yeah Baldy, we're all coming with you!" She laughed as he scowled at his nickname, one of the few that actually stuck, she seemed to forget anyone else's within hours.

"Hold on." Ikkaku said, holding up his hands. "I can understand most of you coming , but, no offence, Hitsugaya-Tachiou?"

"I'm coming to check up on my vice-captain. And besides you need a captain if so many of you are going." The small captain explained, closing his eyes.

"Uhh, we have Zaraki-Tachiou." Ikkaku pointed at the large man.

Hitsugaya cracked one eye open. "Seriously?" he asked incredulously, one thin eyebrow raised. 'Organised' and 'Zaraki' were two words that never belonged together.

Ikkaku's hand dropped. "Yeah, I see your point."

"Oi!" Zaraki exclaimed, insulted. Ikkaku just grinned.

"Let's go then." He smirked. "We have answers to get." And with that, he spun on his heel and marched through the now open door, sword, as usual, slung over his shoulder.

Hisagi and Hitsugaya were the last out, the former dragging his feet, not particularly wanting to be going, but wanting to see the look of surprise on their faces if, and when, they find out just who the Ryokya kid is.

"If only they knew." He muttered. Hitsugaya, being the only other one who had figured it out, just nodded in agreement.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the OOCness in the flashback, I'm still not sure myself if that was purposeful or not...but let's just say it was ^-^'. Anyway I have a feeling this'll be a long one. Sorry, but please read, this could be important.**

**Firstly, sorry for the long wait, again. I've had a lot to do over the past few weeks, but it's all coming to an end now, Summer is approaching! Wooo!... Anyway, Secondly thank you to those who voted in my latest poll, however I have five people who have said they wanted to see some romance, but only...2? people who have said what they would like to see. But never mind, if you're one of the people who voted yes and haven't told me what they want to see, as in, perhaps a particular couple, please do, it's still open, I would love to know and see if I can put it in.  
**

**And thirdly, I did add this to the last chapter, but I added it late, so some people may not have seen. Yumi's Bankai should be appearing in either the next chapter or the one after, depending on my mood ^-^ I've had a few replies, but I was hoping for a few ideas from you people, as I'm still struggling to think up something. Also, if you can think up a name/command/whatever-it's-called as well, that would be brilliant, I'm useless when it comes to Japanese. Thank you *hugs and gives out many batches of cookies***

**Thank you for reading this far, I hope you'll continue to read and comment on my writing.  
**


	15. The Summer Festival

"I have two words for this place," Hisagi said, staring up at the huge mansion, "bloody hell."

"I swear it's bigger than I remember." Ikkaku said stepping forward, looking around at the large building, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows on the shinigami.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it is." Renji muttered. The whole group was staring up at the mansion in awe "And there are definitely more stairs leading up to it." He turned his head to glare at the inanimate objects

"How rich are these people?" Yachiru asked, dropping to the ground from Zaraki's shoulder.

"The Tanaka family are a very powerful business company." A voice piped up from somewhere to the right. The group turned their heads, as one, to see who had spoken. Standing in an open doorway, in a simple kimono and holding a folded sheet, was an old lady. She looked in her late fifties, with short greying hair, and very obvious signs of aging around her dark eyes.

"Who...?" Ikkaku trailed off.

"I am the family's head of staff. How can I help you?" She asked, standing still as a statue.

"Umm, we're looking for...I just realised I don't know her name." Ikkaku said, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

"I'm going to assume you're looking for Mizaki." The old lady asked.

"Long hair, purple eyes, heck of a tem...per?...wait, Mizaki? _Tanaka _Mizaki?"

"Yes."

Ikkaku stared at the woman in shock. The girl he had been looking for, the one Yumichika had told him to look for, was there the whole time. She was the one who broke in, the one he had spent a good ten minutes having a shouting match with (she won), and she was with the kid who had stolen his best friends sword.

But was it really 'Stolen'?

"If you are looking for Mizaki, she is with her friends and brother at the Summer festival. It's on all night, but it will be hard to find them in that many people." The head of staff broke the bald out of his thoughts.

"Thank you for your help." He said, before spinning on his heel and marching back towards the steps.

"Hey." Iba called out. "Where are we going now?"

"Who wants to go to a festival?"

* * *

"Ahhhh, so many colours." Yachiru squealed happily. "And so much candy!" Zaraki just managed to catch the pink haired girl before she was able to leap at the closest sweet store. The eleventh division already had to pay enough with all the damage they cause fighting, and all the sweets their vice-captain already had, and with the only person in their entire division able to actually balance their budget gone, nobody actually wanted to attempt it, especially after over fifteen years of not even being looked at.

None of them had actually dressed up for the festival, all sticking to the usual jeans and t-shirt, besides Yachiru and Nanao, who had both gone for a simple dress, Yachiru's Pink with frills, Nanao's a pale blue.

Ikkaku had stayed quiet the whole walk to the event, deep in thought.

If Mizaki _was_ the one he was looking for, how come she was with that kid? Why was it she was stealing from them? Unless, maybe Yumichika knew she would try and told him to find her so he could stop her, in which case it was too late. But then again...

Ikkaku dropped his head into his hands, feeling a headache coming on.

_She does look a lot like Yumichika. Same hair and eyes, and a similar build. Could they be related somehow?_

"You okay?" The vice-captain of the eighth asked, almost making the bald jump.

"Hmmm, just thinking."

"Wow." Nanao smirked, pushing her glasses up, waiting to see how long it would take him to realise she had just insulted him. She frowned when he made no comment. He really _was_ deep in thought. "So what now? There are thousands of people here, how are we going to find two?"

"I...don't know." Ikkaku sighed, looking around at the large crowds, hoping he might catch a glimpse of Mizaki or one of the others.

"I suppose we could just wander around till we find something." Renji said.

"I can think of worse places to be stuck looking for someone." Kira added.

"We'll split up, does everyone have a communicator on them?" Hitsugaya asked, looking around. Half the group, the half that weren't and had never been in the eleventh put their hands up, the others, Ikkaku, Zaraki, Yachiru, Iba and Renji, all looked pointedly away. The small captain sighed. "Okay then, those who don't have any form of communication find someone who does and stay with them."

In the end, Zaraki and Yachiru went with Nanao, much to her chagrin, Iba went with Kira and Renji was with Hisagi. Which left Ikkaku with the Captain of the tenth.

Everyone went off in a different direction, and Ikkaku was just about to walk in another, when the small captain stopped him.

"Hold on Madarame." He said, stopping the bald in his tracks. Hitsugaya stepped to the side, down an alley in between two stalls, and whipped out his phone from his pocket. After punching in a few numbers, he held the phone to his ear, while Ikkaku watched on, waiting. "Matsumoto?"

Why didn't he think of that? Ikkaku dropped his head into his hands. Matsumoto was bound to be with them.

"Where are you?" He heard Hitsugaya ask, and leaned in closer to listen.

"Oh." The voice was quiet, but even amongst the noise of the festival, Ikkaku was still able to hear what she was saying. "We're on the hill, we're eating, then the fireworks start. In about an hour I think."

"Alright." Hitsugaya said, glancing up at Ikkaku. "We're coming up, are you allowed to tell anyone about him yet?" Ikkaku cocked his head in confusion.

"Him?" The tinny voice of Matsumoto said. "Oh! Yeah, as of a few weeks ago actually, I sent a note in my latest report remember?"

"You haven't sent a report in months." Hitsugaya deadpanned. Ikkaku heard a nervous laugh.

"It must of gotten lost, who are you with? You said 'we'." She asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm with Madarame Ikkaku, he's pretty desperate for answers, and since this concerns him almost directly, I think he needs to know everything."

Ikkaku's expression of confusion deepened.

There was a sigh from the other end, barely audible, and some illegible muttering. "Alright, if you follow the path along the top of the hill you should find us, but you better hurry, it's gonna be dark soon."

"I think with the amount of noise you make we should be fine in finding you."

Matsumoto let out guilty laugh and quickly hung up.

Ikkaku raised his eyebrows at the captain, who silently flipped his phone shut, and walked out, a slight motion of his head let Ikkaku know he was meant to follow. And so, with a dumbstruck expression, he did.

* * *

Rangiku pressed a button on her phone and hung up, sighing deeply, but smiling softly.

"They're coming up. You gonna be okay?" She asked the teenager beside her. He turned towards her, smirking, purple eyes glittering in the light of the sunset.

"I've been waiting for this for nearly sixteen years, of course." Yumichika said, turning back to the view. Directly below them was the actual festival, stalls and coloured lights lit up the area, laughs and shouts could be heard. They were further up on a long hill, which many people had set up to eat and watch the fireworks. The group of four, Yumichika, Mizaki, Aimi and Rangiku, had decided not to dress up for this summer's festival, and all, save Rangiku, were dressed in a simple jeans and t-shirt attire. Rangiku was dressed in a short dress-shirt with shorts. Yumichika's hair had grown long in the three years, he had refused to cut it. It was now way past hip length, so he kept it up in a high ponytail all the time, two strands hanging either side of his face, tied at the bottom, with a choppy fringe cut in.

"Well, if you're sure." Mizaki said, sitting down on his other side. She glanced at his hands, which were shaking. "Something tells me you're nervous."

He looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Of course I'm nervous, I'm about to tell my best friend, who thinks I'm still dead, I'm alive and that 'look! I'm going against everything the eleventh division ever believed in.'" He sighed, dropping his head. "What am I going to do?" He murmured.

"Well he'll be happy to see you at least." Aimi said from behind them, taking a bite of the rather odd sandwich she had just made. The three in front turned and grimaced at what she was putting in her mouth. "What?" Aimi asked, wide-eyed as she swallowed. "It tastes nice."

"I don't even want to know what is in that." Yumichika said, turning back, sticking his tongue out in disgust. The two either side of him mimicked his actions.

"Well, he'll certainly be happier than he is now." Aimi said. Yumichika snapped his head around, following her gaze. Ikkaku was walking along the main path, Hitsugaya at his side. Yumichika quickly looked away, his long ponytail swaying behind him.

"Matsumoto!" He heard Hitsugaya's voice shout behind him, and he sunk his head lower, suddenly incredibly nervous.

"Ah Captain!" Rangiku yelled back, waving them over. Seeing Yumichika sink lower, she discreetly took one of his hands, squeezing it reassuringly. She heard him take a deep breath. "And Ikkaku, how are you?"

She didn't get an answer, only a glare.

"I think he needs some answers." Hitsugaya said, indicating the still confused bald.

"'Course I bloody need some answers!" Ikkaku growled. "I've been waiting five years to get some answers."

Yumichika sighed again, and started to get up, when his pocket started beeping. Or more his phone started beeping. Loudly.

"Crap." He muttered, and the three girls quickly ran and looked over his shoulder. As another favour to Mizaki, Urahara had added a hollow detector onto Yumichika's phone, that could sense hollows from 10 miles away, meaning they could prepare themselves or get to wherever the creatures were attacking quickly.

"Oh that doesn't look good." Aimi muttered.

At the same time, Hitsugaya's communicator started to ring. He answered, muttered a few ineligible lines, and hung up, his scowl deepening.

"Report from Soul Society, army-"

"Of weird hollows heading our direction, fast." Mizaki cut him off, pulling a tube of soul pills from her bag. She threw three to Yumichika, Aimi and Rangiku, and slipped the last one in her own mouth, separating from her body.

Without any instruction, other than a quiet 'run' the four souls in the bodies sped down the hill and into the crowds, not looking back.

Ikkaku watched with wide eyes as the only male in the group stood, not turning, and yet there was an air of familiarity around him, despite the fact that he couldn't feel any reiatsu from the boy at all. He was surprisingly short for a fifteen year old, and quite slender, with long fingerless gloves covering both arms, though it was hard to see the colour in the low light.

Ikkaku glanced at the sheathed sword hanging on his waist, his eyes narrowing at the sight of it. Not in anger, but in thought.

'It couldn't possibly be...' his thought trailed off as a voice echoed behind them.

"I believe you are the shinigami we need." The group spun around to see a tall man standing on the hill, looking down at them. His face was hidden by his long blonde hair, save a large grin on the lower half of his face. He was dressed in modern everyday clothes, black jeans with a white t-shirt, with a black jacket.

"Who are you?" Hitsugaya asked, glaring up at the man.

The blonde simply smiled wider. "I don't think that matters right now. We're here for the kid and that's all."

Mizaki, Rangiku and Aimi all automatically stepped in front of Yumichika protectively. The teenager simply raised an eyebrow at their actions. He looked down at his phone worriedly to see whereabouts the hollows were.

They were getting closer, only a minute or two away.

"You keep away from my brother." Mizaki growled, clenching her fists, Rangiku and Aimi simply sent a death glare in the man's direction. Yumichika smiled softly at how protective they were, then glanced at Ikkaku, who was merely glaring at the guy, he didn't think the bald had even glanced his direction yet. He sighed. So many had worked it out by this point.

There was a moment of silence.

Suddenly, Yumichika felt a presence behind him, but before he could do anything, a large hand covered his mouth, and nose, much to his horror, and a muscled arm around his arms and chest, and before he knew it, they were in the air, hovering above the festival.

He tried to claw at the man's hand, he couldn't breathe. Didn't they say they wanted him, but was it alive or dead? He looked down at the group below him, who had spun around and were looking up. He looked at Ikkaku, who staring up, wide eyed, all the while struggling to move the large hand out of the way so he could breathe.

He felt his chest tighten, the desperate attempts his body was making to get breath into his lungs.

The last thing he remembered seeing before his mind went black was Ikkaku's eyes widening further and him mouthing something, but he couldn't, quite...make...it...out...

* * *

Out of the corner of his eye, Ikkaku had seen the three girls turn quickly around, and he copied them, following their gaze.

High above the festival a large muscled man with short black hair was holding the kid in a tight hold, one hand covering the smaller form's mouth. He looked closely at what he could see of the kids face.

The light of the dying day was making it hard to see any details, but he was finally able to see the colour of the gloves.

Orange.

That should have been enough to confirm his growing suspicions, but what really completed his theory was when he looked straight into the teenagers frightened and wide eyes. The same violet eyes he had seen almost every day for most of his life, even from this distance, he knew.

"...Yumichika..."

* * *

**_A/N: Haha he's finally worked it out! I got there at last. Sorry it's taken so long, but I love writing a clueless Ikkaku, it's so fun ^^ Anyway, thank you all sooo much for the reviews, I got so many for the last chapter, it made me sooo happy :) I know I haven't replied to many of them, and I'm very sorry if I haven't, it's been a busy few weeks, but college is finally over for this year...TEN WEEKS OFF! WOOO! (I'm hyper tonight ^^) so plenty of more time to write, though I do need to get a job. But anywho, thanks also for all the ideas for Yumi's bankai, they're all so good I don't know what to use, it may be a case of mix&match what I think would work well =)_**

**_Thanks again for so many reviews, do keep them coming ^-^_**

**_Oh, and I've just thought of something, a lot of people have asked for IkkaYumi, but theres also a lot of people who have asked for little or no romance, so I'm going to comprimise, When this is finished, I'll write a oneshot based on this story just for you IkkaYumi lovers. Hows that sound? (Don't expect it to be any good, i'm useless at writing Yaoi, but i'll give it a go, for you ^^)  
_**


	16. Reunions and Kiddnappings

**I would like to thank everyone who donated their ideas toward Yumi's Bankai, I would still be here banging my head on the desk if you guys hadn't helped out. So this chapter is dedicated to all of you (It's too late at night to go searching through all my messages and reviews to pick out everyone) and a huge batch of...I don't want to say cookies, since it's always cookies, so muffins to everyone :D

* * *

**

"...Yumichika..."

"Wow, he's finally got there." Mizaki deadpanned, glancing back at the bald headed shinigami. Ikkaku glared at her, then back at Yumichika.

His heart stopped.

"He's not moving." Rangiku said.

"Look at where the guy's hand is." Aimi said, "He's suffocating." She looked at the others, who were staring, wide eyed and shocked. "Well, do something! I can't fight remember?"

The first to react was Ikkaku. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and a low growl emanated from his throat. With a tight grip on his sword, he leapt into the air, taking a fast swing at the large man, making sure not to hit the teenager in the man's arms. But metal hit metal and Ikkaku found himself blade to blade with the blonde from earlier.

"Hey don't kill the kid, we need him." The blonde haired man hissed back at his companion.

"Oh, sorry." The larger said dumbly, moving his hand.

'Not the brightest bulb in the box.' Ikkaku thought, frowning, moving for another strike. He glanced over, noticing Yumichika moving ever so slightly, eyelids fluttering, then closing again. He almost jumped in surprise when another sword swung down at the guy in front of him.

"Go get Yumichika!" Mizaki yelled at him. "I'll deal with this guy."

Not wanting to argue with the scary girl, Ikkaku let her have the blonde, and spun around to deal with the larger guy.

Who...wasn't there.

Ikkaku looked around in alarm. '_Where'd he go?' _He asked himself. _'I swear he was there only a second ago.' _He kept a tight grip on his sword, refusing to lower his guard until Yumichika was safe and definitely okay.

He was still finding it difficult to get his head round the fact that Yumichika was alive, and here! All that time, how had he not noticed? Matsumoto realised, and so did her captain for that matter, how many others had worked it out? He closed his eyes, trying to sense his friends reiatsu. If he was unconscious, he can't have a very good grasp on it.

There! Barely, but still there.

He spun around ninety degrees and looked up.

The muscled man still had a tight grip on Yumichika, who, to Ikkaku's relief, was beginning to wake up. The blonde man appeared next to them.

Ikkaku jumped when Mizaki appeared next to him, Rangiku on her other side. Both were scowling, and if looks could kill, the two men would be six-feet under.

Yumichika was almost fully awake by now. He still felt slightly bleary, and was breathing hard and fast, trying to regain breath in his lungs.

He could feel the arms tight around him, and, once he felt strength returning, was able to try, and fail, to get away. He could see down below His Captain, along with a whole group, staring up. He could clearly see, even from the height he was at, the mixed looks of confusion and wonderment on their faces. Looking straight ahead he saw Ikkaku, who was glaring daggers at the man holding him, his knuckles white from the tight grip on his sword. Yumichika almost smirked.

The almost smile was wiped off his face when he felt his sword being taken from his waist. He squirmed, trying to get out of the grip, glaring at the blonde.

"Right." He smirked, holding the sword tightly, and Yumichika felt his stomach drop. "This is all we need. We'll be heading off now. And don't try to follow. You'll never find us." He smiled wider.

A deafening roar diverted everyone's attention, all heads snapping sideways, towards the twilight sun.

Coming closer and closer fast, was an entire army of Hollows of various shapes and sizes, but all with glowing yellow eyes.

"Get ready guys." Mizaki shouted down. "And those who can't do Kidou better run, you won't be able to fight here."

"What!" Zaraki yelled up, hoping he had misheard her.

Yumichika was panicking a little. Even though the hand had loosened, he was still finding it hard to breathe. Looking down, he saw everyone getting ready to fight, the area above almost empty field below behind the festival was quickly becoming filled with hollows. The blonde next to him was still smirking, holding onto his sword in a tight grip. Yumichika's violet eyes darkened, narrowing dangerously.

With enough force to knock anyone out, he threw his head backwards, effectively making the guy loose his grip, only for a moment, but it was enough to kick out, knocking his sword out of the blondes grip and into the air. Using Shunpo, he managed to grab it and appear in between his sister and Ikkaku, managing to scare both of them.

He chuckled a little at their reaction, which was jumping away slightly, wide eyed. Mizaki squeaked a little, before her expression hardened, and she scowled, although a hint of a smirk could be seen at the corners of her lips. She glanced back at the army, which had stopped. The blonde and his idiot companion were standing in front of them, expressions dark.

"Well done. You got away." She said, allowing herself a smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair, which was already slightly messed up.

He smacked her hand away and growled quietly, glowering at her, eyes narrowed. He heard a quiet chuckle from behind him, and snapped his head around to see Ikkaku, who was smiling, though there was a questionable look in his eyes.

He looked in closely, leaning in ever so slightly.

Yumichika backed away a little, wide eyes blinking, unconsciously brushing down his Shihakusho.

After a few moments Ikkaku stood up straight and nodded to himself.

"Nice to see you haven't changed too much, eh, Yumi?" He said, his usual grin back on his face.

Yumichika blinked again, as the words sunk in, then smiled, eyes shining.

"Ahem." Mizaki turned their attention back to her. "Lovely reunion and all that, but we have a little-sorry, big problem we need to deal with." She said hands on her hips. "Now, Yumi, do you reckon you can...?" She drifted off.

"Yep, of course. I haven't tried it on something this big, but any stragglers we can deal with later." He drew his sword, a determined look in his eye.

"What's going on?" The voice of Hitsugaya Torshirou asked from behind them.

"We're just gonna' go kick ass." Mizaki said, tilting her head with a smile.

"Ikkaku." Yumichika said, ignoring the conversation between his sister and the captain. "I'm sorry." He said, before taking a few steps forward, holding his Zanpaktou vertical in front of him, the hilt level with his chest. He faintly heard Ikkaku behind him voice his confusion, but it drifted into the background as he concentrated on his Zanpaktou, closing his eyes.

"Bankai."

A bright azure light shone, and the blade of his sword shining, before promptly dissolving into glowing petals, which blew into the crowd of hollows, dispersing and almost disappearing from view.

"Saigo no misuterī, Ruri'iro Kujaku."

The pair in front of the hollows laughed, their eyes filled with mirth.

"Is that it?" The blonde asked, breathing hard from his laughter. Yumichika just smirked, eyes dark under his hair. "Is that the great power we were asked to re...tri...eve...?" He trailed off, sensing a slight shaking in the ground below. "What the...?"

Without warning, hundreds of glowing vines erupted straight up from the ground in a large circle surrounding the mass of hollows. For a split second they stood straight up, before they shot across the hollows, joining with another vine opposite, criss-crossing over the hollows tightly, with very little room to escape, though one or two were able to squeeze out, and pulling the group to the ground.

The few that were able to escape were quickly shot down by Mizaki, who had appeared next to her brother.

The vines began to glow brighter, the usual flowers blooming, looking very small against the larger vines, and the hollows' struggling weakened and weakened, until, one by one, they disappeared.

The vines, now that their job was done, vanished with the last hollow, the flowers blowing towards their master, forming the blade of his Zanpaktou.

"Heh..." The Blonde, who had been seemingly spared along with his partner, was staring in shock and horror at Yumichika, who's blade was still glowing softly. "Now I see..." He said quietly.

"I have a special surprise for you." Yumichika said, looking up at the almost shaking pair. "Fainaru-kō"

Two pairs of eyes widened in fear, eleven widened in shock and amazement.

A glowing circle of light had appeared just below the two, and before a single word could be spoken, what seemed to be a wide beam of light shoot up, engulfing them. It only lasted a moment, but in that time they had completely gone, destroyed in the pent up energy contained in Yumichika's Zanpaktou.

Sheathing his now back to normal sword, Yumichika turned back to the stunned group. He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

There was silence for a few moments.

"Ho-ly Crap."

Renji's exclamation set nearly everyone off.

"That was bloody amazing."

"Had no idea he was that powerful."

"I don't think anyone knew."

"Amazing."

"Haven't seen that part before."

Yumichika very quickly found himself surrounded by his old friends, and despite the fact that he couldn't make out what most of them were saying, as they were all talking over each other, he couldn't help but smile. It only took a few moments to realise a few hadn't joined in with the celebration and congratulations. Ducking in-between Hisagi and Kira, he stepped in front of his old Captain, Vice-captain and third seat.

"Kinda cheating." Zaraki said simply. "But what the hell, It's too powerful to say anything bad about."

"Scared I'll come kill you in your sleep?" Yumichika asked with a small smile.

"I'd like to see you try." The large captain was going to snap back, but the evil look in the violet eyes stopped him just in time. He could totally kill him in his sleep, especially after that performance.

Yumichika laughed a little at the almost frightened look on Zaraki's face, before turning his attention to Yachiru, who was beginning to tear up. Before he could say anything however, she launched herself at him, burying her face in his neck, sobbing.

"Hey to you too." Yumichika said, stroking her hair.

"You're back." The small girl mumbled into his neck, so it came out muffled. "You died, and now you're here."

It took a while to detatch the small pink girl from his neck, but once they finally did, Yumichika turned to Ikkaku, waiting for the explosion he had been waiting for since he had first decided to keep his true realise a secret.

Ikkaku looked at him for a while, one eyebrow raised.

"You lied." He said simply. Yumichika gave no reaction at all.

"No, I didn't." He said.

"Yes you did, all that time I thought you had a fighting type Zanpaktou, when it was really kidou. That release I saw three years ago, that's your real Shikai, right?"

"Yes it is, but I didn't lie. I never told you I was only using a half release for all those years, you just assumed it was my full release. I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you the whole truth, and you made the assumption."

Ikkaku opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. There was a moment of silence as he tried to get his head around what had just been said. "You sneaky bastard." He finally said. "But then, I don't think you would be the same if you weren't."

Yumichika grinned. "Nice to see you again Ikkaku." He said.

What he wasn't expecting was a face full of black material, and a pair of strong arms around him. He blinked, trying to take it in. Once he did, he smiled, hugging the larger man back, gripping the material of the Shihakusho.

"I missed you."

That surprised him. Ikkaku never said stuff like that. He pulled back, staring at the bald in surprise and astonishment, which quickly morphed into a smile.

It was only then he noticed the height difference, which was now far greater than what it used to be. He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard.

His shoulders slumped when he worked it out.

"What is it?" Ikkaku asked, worried.

"Mizaki!" Yumichika yelled back to his sister, looking slightly miserable. She looked up, her expression curious. "I really am short, aren't I?"

Mizaki couldn't help but snort. "Yes sweetie, you really are." She tried not to laugh. "Now come on, we've got a lot to tell these guys. Might as well get started."

They all began moving to their original spot on the hill, where they had a fantastic view of the fireworks that had just started.

Yumichika was just about to follow when he heard an raspy, unfamiliar voice whisper something in his ear. He froze in shock.

"If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself."

And with that, his world went black.

* * *

**A/N: I have no idea why, but this was such a hard chapter to write...probably something to do with the Bankai and all the reunions :P Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, please keep them coming, especially if you have thought of any constructive critisism, I love being able to improve my writing in any way ^^  
**

**Translations**

Saigo no misuterī - Last Twilight

Fainaru-kō - Final light

**EDIT: I've just realised, Yumichika's hair...if you want an idea of what it now looks like...check out the vocaloid Gakupo...Just type him in on google images ^^**


	17. What Now?

Yumichika awoke to darkness.

Oh...wait, his eyes were closed...it didn't count.

He cracked his eyes open, a dim light and a dull grey ceiling filled his vision. He could feel a stone floor beneath his back, and it was cold, very, very cold.

With a groan he sat up, finding himself in a large hall. If it wasn't for the lack of colour and anything else, it could have been quite magnificent. Tall marble columns lined a wide pathway down the centre of the hall, leading to what would have been windows, but had been boarded up long ago by the looks of things, with a almost magnificent throne like chair in front of the boards. All the windows down either side had also been boarded up. There was no colour in the room at all, it was all grey with dust and age.

Rubbing his aching head he attempted to stand.

The first try was unsuccessful, his shaking legs sending him tumbling back to the ground. But he managed on his second try, still a little shaky, still looking around the room in confusion and, let's face it, disgust.

He looked down at himself, noticing, to his horror, his Zanpaktou was no longer strapped to his obi where it should be.

Panicking ever so slightly, but trying not to show it and stay calm, he looked around the room, almost disappointed to find it void of any life. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on any reiatsu in the area. To his frustration, nothing came up. Meaning there was no one anywhere near him, or they had a reiatsu that he found difficult to sense.

Suddenly a door slammed open behind him, and he spun around, seeing a glowing red orb shot towards him. Instinct he had build up over the past fifteen years took over and he immediately blocked with a simple Bakudō. Once the smoke had cleared, he looked towards the doorway, where a tall cloaked figure was standing.

"I had heard you had gotten good at Kidou." The man said. His voice sounded old, slightly raspy, like he hadn't had a drink in a long time. "But obviously my sources hadn't given me the full details." He took a step forward, causing Yumichika, whose expression had set into a hard glare, to take a step backwards. The man sighed, followed by a small chuckle.

"You were born for Kidou, even you can see how naturally it comes to you Ayasegawa."

The shinigami's eyes widened.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"How do I know you? Why Yumichika, I've known you for years, we've been watching you ever since we found out about your true power nearly thirty years ago." The figure started walking forwards, around Yumichika and towards the chair at the end of the room.

"How did you find out about it?"

"Where were you twenty five years ago, hmm? Fighting that Arrancar, Coolhorn I believe. We saw what you did to him. Or, I did anyway." He gave a small chuckle. "Your power, even you have no idea what it can really do."

"What?" Yumichika took a step towards him, almost curious.

"With enough reiatsu, your Zanpaktou can destroy cities, countries... Even worlds."

"Now tell me why I would want to do that?" Yumichika spat out.

"Now, now Yumichika, no need to get bitter at me. You should be getting bitter at them. I've seen how they treat you, how they treat anyone who they believe is different, without getting to know them. I've been through it myself." With that he took down his hood, and the face beneath it made Yumichika gasp in shock and horror.

* * *

"No!" Rangiku's yell stopped Ikkaku in his tracks, and he spun around, seeing Yumichika, eyes wide, in the hold of a hooded man. The thin line that was the man's mouth curled at the corners into a grim smile. Ikkaku moved instantly, drawing his sword. But it was too late, there was nothing they could do apart from watch in horror as the teenagers eyes fluttered closed and the pair disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

An almost deafening silence fell over the large group, even the loud noises from the festival and fireworks had been drowned out as they stared in shock at the empty space where Yumichika used to be.

"Wh-what just happened?" Aimi's trembling voice broke the quiet.

"I don't know." Mizaki breathed. "But we have to find out, fast."

Ikkaku was still staring in shock at the empty spot, though anger was slowly boiling up inside of him, wanting to burst out. He had already lost him once, he was NOT going to lose him again.

"So what do we do now?" He growled, still staring at that same spot.

"I...I...I don't know." Mizaki said breathlessly, dropping her head into her hands.

"What?" Ikkaku turned around, his face dark. "You...You don't know?" Mizaki looked taken aback, she stepped backwards, eyes wide. "Yumichika has just been kidnapped, gone, and you don't know!" His voice dropped into a low hiss at the end, and he stepped closer, glaring.

Mizaki blinked a few times, shocked, then her face hardened.

"Look you." She hissed, stepping up close to the bald, eyes narrowed. "I know you're worried, but can I just say, he's my _brother_, I'm worried about him too, and so is probably everyone else here. The fact of the matter is, although I may be smarter than you, I know about as much about what just happened as you do." By the time she finished, the pair were nose to nose. Ikkaku looked rather shocked, but after a glance round at the rest of the group, he visibly calmed down, though his expression was still one of worry.

"Right, we need to first work out what just happened, then plan what to do next." The dark haired girl sat down on the grass, resting her chin on her bent knee, looking out at the dark sky and bright lights of the festival down below.

* * *

The face beneath the hood was like that from a horror movie. Half the man's face, although aged and wrinkled, looked like it was once the face of a beautiful man. Long silver hair covered one half of his head. The other half however, was deformed beyond recognition. It looked to have been burnt, though how and why was another question, and not one Yumichika particularly wanted to know.

"Terrible, isn't it?" The man said, gesturing his face with long thin fingers. "Happened during my first week as a shinigami."

"Wait, you were a shinigami?" Yumichika said, surprised.

"Yes, I was once a part of the Gotei thirteen. This happened during a freak accident with a hollow-"

"You know what?" Yumichika interrupted. "As interesting as your life story might be, I actually don't care right now, I just wanna get out of here. Just get to the point."

The man narrowed his eyes, but did as asked. "The point I'm getting at is I know what it's like. To be treated differently to everyone else, just cause you are slightly different."

"Know what it's like?" Yumichika asked, mouth agape. "Please tell me you're kidding? We're in completely different situations. We're nothing alike."

"We're more alike than you think." The man gave a small smile.

"I don't even know your name."

"My name? Just call me Osamu." He tilted his head slightly. "It is my desire to destroy the Gotei thirteen, I spent my years there being ridiculed and ignored, simply because people were too scared to talk to me because of this. They were too intimidated. They often laughed and mocked me. I was a genius there, a high seat of the twelfth division ("Figures." Yumichika muttered). I developed these creatures so they couldn't be destroyed with brute strength, I thought they would be useful. But one got out and wrecked the lab. I was exiled for creating a dangerous and untrained creature. So I found a place big enough to build my armies, and waited. Then, I found you."

Yumichika looked up, suddenly interested.

"After I saw your Shikai, I realised, once you achieved Bankai, you could defeat my armies with ease, as you have shown earlier. So I sent out armies of hollows with a few of my creations hidden within its ranks. With any luck, I could get rid of you, before you realised what you could do. But, of course, you came back. And I saw how useful you could be. With Bankai, I wouldn't need my creations, you have the power to take out the entire city, and you would barely need to lift a finger."

"I know I've asked before, why would _I_ _want _to destroy Serietei? It's my home."

"But is it? Do the people there really like you? Or do you think it's just for show? They just put up with you cause they don't have a choice?"

"Why would they...?" He trailed off, starting to look doubtful.

"Look at yourself Yumichika. You're the most beautiful man in the Gotei thirteen, of course they're intimidated." Osamu smiled, moving forward to put a hand on the younger's shoulder. "But I'm not, join me, destroy them, you can heal my scars with the power of your Bankai, and we can rule forever, be loved, truly loved, by everyone."

* * *

"Hey! Urahara! Wake up!" Mizaki yelled, almost breathlessly after running all the way from the train station, banging on his bedroom door with her fist. She had let herself in (the idiot forgot to lock the door again) and was almost frantic.

"What?" The door was thrown open, revealing...something. Mizaki stumbled backwards a little in shock. The thing that opened the door wasn't Urahara. Well, it resembled the shop owner, but it couldn't be. Could it?

"Urahara-san?"

"It's 5:30 in the bloody morning!" Definitely Urahara. "What the _hell_ are you doing?" He hissed.

"He has a point." Ikkaku said from the hall doorway. He, Matsumoto and Aimi had been dragged along by Mizaki, the others had been ordered back to Serietei.

"Shut up Ikkaku." Mizaki scowled. "That phone you gave to my brother." She said to the annoyed man in front of her. "I don't suppose it has a tracker in it does it? So you can find the phone from here or something?"

"Yes it does. Why?"

"Thank you." Mizaki breathed in relief. "Yumichika's been kidnapped, we need to go rescue him. Now!"

"Kidnapped you say? Well, then we must move quickly. Come with me." He said, putting his hat on over his quite unruly bed-head. He led them down to the basement, to a large computer screen with a lot of buttons and keys.

"What was the number?" Mizaki just looked at him in confusion. "The phone number." He continued in exasperation.

"Oh, right." She listed off the numbers, watching as he quickly typed them in. After hitting a blue button, the screen glowed for a moment, before a huge map of Japan appeared on the screen, a blinking dot right over Tokyo. Urahara zoomed in, and Mizaki's heart sank. The dot was right over where they were.

Reaching deep into her bag, she dug around and pulled out a small phone.

With a tired and desperate moan, she dropped to the ground, silence filling the rest of the room.

"Well, crap." Matsumoto said with a sigh.

"Please tell me this is some kind of cruel joke." Ikkaku muttered, dropping his head into his hands.

"Afraid not. He must have put the phone in my bag before we fought. Stupid idiot." Mizaki murmured, and they couldn't help but agree.

Ikkaku could feel the annoyance inside, felt himself wanting to express it, but was too tired to. He had been awake for just over 24 hours, and a lot had happened in that time. He was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

Mizaki sighed heavily, falling backwards, so she was lying on her back.

"Now what?" Aimi said, looking around at the others. She felt like she was about to fall asleep on her feet, but she was desperately trying to stay awake. For her friends. For Yumichika.

'_I don't know.' _Mizaki thought, closing her eyes.

"Get some sleep." Urahara said.

"What?" Ikkaku exclaimed. "But we have to find Yumichika! We've got to go get him."

"And you are in no state to do so. You've all been up all night by the looks of things, go now and you'll be too exhausted to walk, much less fight. Go get a few hours sleep and eat something. Leave this to me. I'll try everything I can to find him."

"Alright." Matsumoto yawned, turning to move upstairs. "Where can we sleep?"

"Take my room. Spare Futons are in the closet." Urahara said, going back to his computer, typing fast. "And take Mizaki with you, she's already long gone." He nodded to the snoring girl on the floor.

Rolling his eyes, Ikkaku picked her up and took her upstairs, the other two following at a slow pace.

It didn't take them long to lay out the futons in the surprisingly large room, and before he knew it, Ikkaku was staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to take over.

He had never believed in a God, but at that moment, he was praying to whatever higher power was up there that Urahara was able to find his friend, and that they could go save him, and everything would just go back to the way it was.

The last thing he remembered seeing was Yumichika's smiling face, long hair dancing in the wind, sunset behind him, before sleep took over his mind, and he fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hit a writers block half way through the chapter, then my computer got a virus and I nearly had to wipe the Hard Drive (They saved it though :D) and then I went away for a week (Soul Survivor! Amazing week :P) I eventually got my act together and finished the chapter this evening, inbetween watching LotR and Playing Sims 2. Course it's now nearly one in the morning, but I just had to finish it. So sorry if it seems a bit rushed at times ^^'**

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far (we've hit 100! Thank you _coli narago _for submitting the 100th review :D). Please do keep them coming, they are my inspiration :)  
**


	18. Rescue Mission part 1

**A/N: I am sooooooo sorry for the long wait. Once college started we were loaded with so much work I barely had a spare moment to write. I should technically be doing my textiles right now (well really, I should be in bed, but thats the point). But hey-ho. It's here now. Enjoy :)

* * *

**

"Come on! Time to wake up!" Urahara's overly cheerful voice dragged Mizaki out of a blissful sleep. With a tired grumble she pulled the covers over her head, trying to block the noise out. She could hear the groans from the others as they struggled to wake up. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to go back to her peaceful and dreamless sleep.

"Come on," The over-enthusiastic shop-keeper said, and Mizaki could practically hear the grin in his voice.

"Alright alright. I'm up." She could Rangiku mutter, but there no movement to correspond with this statement. From out a tiny gap in the covers, Aimi could be seen sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and yawning widely. Ikkaku however, had mimicked her and was hiding under the covers, trying to get more sleep, and Rangiku was crawling out of bed, her hair messy and tangled.

"This might help," Urahara muttered to himself with a smirk. "I've found him."

Simultaneously both Ikkaku and Mizaki sat up, staring with wide eyes at the smirking shop-keeper.

"Where?" They both asked simultaneously .

"Get out of bed and I'll show you."

Mizaki had never seen anyone get up so quickly, nor had she ever gotten up so fast herself. Within minutes the four of them were standing in a line, ready and waiting. Rangiku had given up with her hair, and put it in a messy ponytail, planning on sorting it out later (Which she would, Rangiku never went a day without perfect hair).

"Right, Where is he?" Ikkaku asked.

Urahara merely smirked from beneath his hat. "How do you know I didn't just say that to get you up?"

"Cause if you did," Mizaki said, "I will kick your butt from here to next week." She finished with a scowl. Urahara's grin faltered for a moment, before growing even wider. He turned on his heel and walked out the room, hat pulled down low over his smirking expression.

With a sigh of exasperation, Mizaki followed, leading the others in a single file out the room and down into the basement.

The large screen was already set up, a map of the world and a map of Soul Society filling up one half of the screen, a flashing red dot over Tokyo, and another, blue dot flashing on the Soul Society map, somewhere on the outskirts. The other half of the screen was filled with codes, impossible to understand and constantly moving down the screen, new codes appearing at the top.

"Care to explain?" Mizaki asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

* * *

"_Go, take one of the others. We're going to need a little leverage if he's going to give in to us."

* * *

_

Urahara smiled. "Well, it took a while, but as I was finding it hard to find his reiatsu anywhere, I hacked into the Soul Society computers, they have a track on where every shinigami is at any given time. I had hoped they would still have him on the system, but no luck. Then I realised, you're twins, so, similar reiatsu. So I entered yours into my system and it came up with two results, yours," he pointed at the small red dot, directly over where they were, "and his," His hand moved to the blue dot.

Silence filled the room.

Ikkaku broke this silence by turning to Mizaki. "You're twins?" He asked, one eyebrow raised and completely off-topic. "I knew you were brother and sister, I heard that the other night, but twins?"

"Didn't he mention that?" the dark-haired girl asked, slightly offended. "Didn't mention me at all?"

Ikkaku shook his head. "I actually don't know anything about him from before he met me. And he was just a kid then, appearance about aged thirteen or fourteen."

"Can't have been too long after he ran away, understandable that he didn't want to talk about it, but still!" Mizaki scowled. "He could have told you later on, or at least mentioned me." She crossed her arms over her chest, thoroughly annoyed.

"Can we get on with this please?" Urahara said, looking bored. The pair snapped their heads round quickly, attention back on the screen.

"Anyway," Urahara continued, "At the moment, this is the only lead we have," he pointed at the blue dot. "I've done bit of research, it's on what was once a empty piece of land, nothing could grow so they abandoned it, looks deserted, couple of old buildings, science labs, and the rest is mountains. Doesn't look like anyone lives there, but at the moment it's all you've got."

"Right, so we should go check it out," Rangiku said, "Maybe we'll find them there." The others agreed, nodding.

* * *

"_Which one my master?"

* * *

_

"But, we have a slight problem. The computer's picked up an unbelievable amount of hollows, and the number keeps growing, we're going to need more than just the four of you." Another deafening silence. "You're going to need to go back to Serietei and get them to help in this, it's the only way."

"How do you know they'll help?" Mizaki asked. As the only one without any real experience of Serietei or its residents, other than what she saw when they broke in (which wasn't the best first impression), she was slightly sceptical about the loyalties and their willingness to help.

* * *

"_Any."

* * *

_

"Our division will!" Ikkaku argued. "You can count on us."

"Ikkaku, sweetie," Mizaki said, a sympathetic look on her face as she looked up at him, "no offence, but your division, from what I've heard, are going to be pretty useless against this lot." Ikkaku just glared.

"They can hold them off," Aimi spoke up quietly, for the first time since they woke up, finally finding her voice.

"Huh?"

"They may not be able to defeat them, but they can hold them off until somebody who can defeat them comes along," she explained, looking up with wide brown eyes.

"Ha!" Ikkaku grinned. Mizaki rolled her eyes, smiling a little.

"We'll do what we can to convince them," Matsumoto said, smiling, "shall we go then? The quicker we leave the quicker we can get him out of there. What's the time anyway? Just out of curiosity."

"Five thirty pm."

Silence.

"Better get moving," Urahara grinned.

Mizaki sighed, not even bothering to argue, nothing ever gets through to him. It was just then she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Thinking it was nothing, she turned back to Urahara, who was fiddling around with opening the Senkaimon.

Wait! There it was again. She turned around, looking into a dark corner. Darker than it should be. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the spot.

Suddenly, a muffled scream and a shout knocked her out of her thoughts and she spun round. Ikkaku had drawn his sword, Aimi was swaying in shock, wide-eyed, and Urahara had a half-formed kidou spell hovering in his hand, which promptly disappeared. Rangiku was nowhere to be seen.

"What?"

* * *

"So you think you've found the place where the hollows are coming from?" The Captain-Commander asked the three souls standing in front of him.

"We weren't so sure before, but we can confirm it now they have Matsumoto Rangiku, you can track her reiatsu, it's the same place they took my brother," Mizaki explained, "the hollows that can only be killed with kidou are coming from there, and they're rising in numbers, fast."

Silence filled the room.

"We need to strike them before they strike us," Hitsugaya spoke up, "And we can rescue the two captives."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." The three in the middle exchanged smiles.

"How many shinigami would we need for such an attack?" Yamamoto asked.

"As many as you can," Mizaki told him, "Priority to the ones who can do kidou, even if it's only simple attack spells, that's all they'll need. Others can come to help hold the hollows off," She saw Zaraki grin in the corner of her vision and she smiled slightly.

"Alright, Kurotsuchi, find out how many hollows on average there are, I believe you can do that now," The strange captain nodded, rolling his eyes, "Everyone else, ready your squads, even if we do not need you, be ready. We leave for battle at dawn."

* * *

"Now what?" Ikkaku asked as they left the meeting room, throwing his sword over his shoulder.

"We hope and pray Yumi and Rangiku are going to be okay," Aimi said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

* * *

"Now then Yumichika," Osamu said, circling the teenager, "I've given you your options and time to think about it, what is your answer?"

Yumichika stared at the door. The man made a good point. It was true, he was often treated differently for how he looked and acted, mocked even, and even by his friends, if that's what they really were. It was true most of the weaklings were quickly put in their place, and now they treated him with respect, but only out of fear. Was that really respect?

And his friends, he knew they talked about him behind his back, but didn't they do that about everyone? Most of the men in Serietei were more gossipy than the women.

But what about Ikkaku, his captain and vice-captain? They liked him at least, despite his rather, flamboyant nature. And Ikkaku wouldn't have kept him with him all those years if he didn't like him. Was Serietei worth saving for that?

That question was the easiest he had ever had to answer.

Yes.

"I'm not going to help you," he told the disfigured man confidently, "that place is my home and I'm not going to let you destroy it."

Osamu sighed. "I thought you might say that." There was obvious displeasure in his voice, laced with something more sinister. Yumichika drew back a little at the tone of his voice. What was he going to do now? The fifteen year old considered blasting a kidou spell at him. But the older man was too good, and it would probably just make him mad. Well, madder.

"I think a little persuasion is in order." He clicked his fingers and the door was thrown open, revealing a tall dark man. He looked much like a shadow, completely black, from head to toe, other than two glowing gold eyes. But it wasn't him that made all the colour drain from Yumichika's face. It was what, or who he had thrown on the floor, only barely conscious, in front of him.

"Rangiku!"

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Things are starting to happen now! I still can't believe this took so long to get done. My entire life is now based around graphics and textiles, and I'm staying up late nearly every night to get things done. Philosophy should come in there somewhere but it doesn't :/ much less time for writing this. So don't expect a quick update, but I'll get it done when I can :) keep watching ;D and keep reviewing, it's my inspiration :)**


	19. Rescue Mission part 2

Serietei was in a state of chaos. Black-clad shinigami were running all over the place, sending orders from their captains to others in the division. Some were getting in some last minute practice, while others were very quickly teaching some basic kidou skills to those who knew very little, or none at all.

The 1st division seemed to be most calm out of them all, but with Yamamoto as their captain, this was to be expected. The old captain was sending out orders to all the divisions, in particular the 12th, who were busy with pinpointing the exact location and finding the fast way there. Which, judging by the shear distance between Serietei and there, would have to be opening a Senkaimon as close as they could and hoping for the best. The other divisions were preparing their squads for what was looking to be the biggest battle they had faced since the final showdown against Aizen.

The 11th division seemed to be in the most chaos, though this was expected, due to the general lack of organisation the division had, especially since Yumichika died. None of them quite realised quite how much the pretty-boy did for the squad, and while they managed to get by without him, it was only barely, and they had many a talking to by the head captain to 'get their act together' over the past fifteen years.

"Madarame!" The fearsome captain roared across the courtyard when he caught sight of the bald man talking with the black-haired girl and the healer. Ikkaku turned towards him, eyebrow raised in question.

"Yeah, Tachiou?" He asked, "What is it?"

"I need you to help lead the division," the large man told him, gesturing the unorganised mess that was the officers of the squad.

"But I-"

"But you what?" Zaraki glared.

"I was going to go in with Mizaki to help Yumichika and Matsumoto get out," Ikkaku explained, gesturing to the girl beside him, who nodded.

"No," Zaraki said simply, "your duty is with your division and your loyalty to your captain. You do what I order, and until I tell you you can go, you will staying fighting with us until the end, got it?"

Ikkaku stared at him, wide eyed. Ikkaku was one of the few people in the division the captain didn't pull rank on and order around whenever he felt like it, and because he was third seat and was in a position of high power himself, he was often just left to get on with it and make decisions for himself. While it was true they were under extreme circumstances and there was a major war approaching , their fifth seat was in danger.

"Alive or not, isn't Yumichika still part of the division? So if my duty is to my division, I should be able to go help," the bald man growled, his scowl deepening by the minute.

Zaraki faltered, but only for half a moment, the logic was definitely there. However. "Ayasegawa can take care of himself, I don't know if you noticed, but the kid's at captain level now. He was always good, but he can actually defeat those things now, so he's fine, but we're gonna need all the power we can get to keep those things at bay," He paused, his glare threatening, "so you're staying with the division."

"But-"

"Don't worry Ikkaku," Mizaki said from behind him, "I'm going in, and I'm pretty sure I heard that kid captain has been assigned the mission of getting them out."

"Hitsugaya-Tachiou?"

"Yeah, him," the girl smiled reassuringly, "I heard he's powerful, especially for his age, so I'm sure he'll have no trouble."

"Fine, I'll go with the division, but I'm not gonna be happy about it." The bald scowled.

* * *

The Senkaimon for this particular task was immense, but then considering the amount of shinigami going through, it would have to be. The divisions were in formation, their captains or acting captains in a row in front of the head captain, awaiting their final orders.

The first, and third divisions were going to be at the back, protecting the Fourth division, who were going to set up an area for healing, both on the battlefield for those who needed it immediately, and for after, that is, if they come out victorious. The fifth division, being the experts in kidou, were on the front line, flanked by the second, sixth, eighth and ninth. The seventh and eleventh were directly behind keeping those hollows who escaped the kidou at bay and towards those who were more experienced with kidou. The twelfth were staying in Serietei, to protect the city, along with most of the thirteenth. The other half were going to be amongst the other divisions depending on their expertise. Their captain was going to stay with the Fourth, mainly due to his illness (it had been getting worse over the previous week) and to keep communication with everyone to report their progress and any major casualties to Unohana. Finally the tenth were in charge of breaking and entering, and rescuing the captives.

Mizaki however, was free to do whatever the heck she wanted.

Which she was quite pleased about.

"So, what are you going to do?" Ikkaku asked her while the captains were being given orders.

"Probably fight. I was taught by my father the arts of kidou, and he was an expert, I know almost all there is to know," she told him, all the while staring intently at the gate. "But I'll probably try and keep close to the tenth division, and try and break in with them. I want to save them as much as you do."

"What's your history with Yumichika anyway?" Ikkaku asked. "I know you're twins, but how come you separated?"

Mizaki turned from the gate with a small smile. "There's not much to tell," she stretched her arms above her head, "we were born together, identical twins, almost, despite how girly he sometimes looks, compared to me, he really did look more like a guy when we were together," she chuckled, "our parents were quite rich, we had a good life, in comparison to most. Father was once a captain of the Gotei 13, not for long, but it meant he was powerful, and so earned the family a lot of respect. But they were very traditional, and so we ended up with arranged marriages, which is how I ended up in the living world, not sure about the connection to that family, never got round to asking, but anyway. Neither of us wanted that, so we planned to run away. But, we hit a bit of a problem. I fell in love with the guy I was to marry, and he didn't even like the girl he was going to. After an argument he took all our savings and ran away. Few years later he met you and you know the rest."

"Wow, that explains a lot," Ikkaku said, "I think."

"We certainly had an interesting childhood, I give you that, but other than all the marriage stuff it was fairly boring. All we had was each other, so we've always pushed everyone else away, we never needed them. But when he left, I needed someone more than ever, my fiancé died, and I fell into depression. That was when Rangiku turned up," She sighed, smiling slightly, "Oh, here we go."

Ikkaku looked up to see his captain come back, and squad by squad, the shinigami moving into the Senkaimon.

"Good. Let's go."

* * *

_(meanwhile)_

"Rangiku!"

Yumichika ran forward and fell to his knees by the older woman's body, the rise and fall of her chest the only indication she was still alive.

"What have you done?" The young boy yelled, standing up, enraged.

"I'll leave you to think it over one more time shall I? Have fun," the deformed man turned to leave, then, as if he had another thought, "Oh, and see if you can save the woman, she's very pretty, it'll be a shame."

"Why you-"

He was cut off by the large double doors slamming in his face. He sighed angrily.

_How dare they bring other people into this? _He thought_, I'm the one they want, can't they leave the others, my friends, out of this?_

He turned back to Rangiku, who still hadn't moved. There was a very obvious slash on her side that looked to be quite deep, though it wasn't bleeding. The skin that was showing was scattered with small bruises and cuts, though there was a large bruise covering her right cheek under her eye.

"Well," He scratched the back of head nervously and in worry, "healing kidou was never my strong spot, but let's give this a go." He held his hands over her body, focusing his reiatsu. A green glow appeared under his hands. A wide smile stretched across his face. Those healing lessons from Aimi had pulled off.

After a few moments the bruises started to fade, the cut in her side grew smaller. Seconds later grey eyes fluttered open. Yumichika sighed in relief, smiling ever so slightly.

"You okay?" He asked, helping her sit up. She was shaky, but nothing too bad. "You look dreadful."

"Coming from you I suppose it's not too bad then, huh?" Rangiku croaked out, groaning as she stretched her arms out above her head.

"What's that meant to mean?" Yumichika asked indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You know exactly what I mean kid," Rangiku smiled, then looked around, "where are we?"

"Truthfully, I don't know, I woke up in this room and I haven't been anywhere else in the building. All I know is there's a crazy old guy and a weird shadow guy who kidnapped you."

"Why do they want us?"

"They don't need you," Yumichika told her, bringing his knees up to his chest and leaning his chin on them, "they're using you as leverage, they...they want me to destroy Serietei."

"W-What?" Rangiku exclaimed, "you can't! You won't! Will you?"

The younger laughed darkly. "Of course not, but if I refuse, they'll kill you."

"I'd like to see them try," Rangiku muttered, a scowl marring her features.

"Yeah, well, we'll see," he paused, "either way, that guy is ugly," he made a face, sticking his tongue out in disgust, "I know it wasn't his fault he looks like that, but still," he stood, looking around, "we need a plan, we need to get out of here."

"How?"

Yumichika thought hard, looking around the room for possible exits. He was always the smartest in his division, by quite a big margin, and was always analysing things like this and coming up with the plans. But on this occasion, he was well and truly stumped.

"You're pretty good at kidou right? We'll need it until we get our Zanpaktou back."

"They're gone?" Rangiku looked down at her waist, noticing in shock that her Zanpaktou was indeed gone.

"We need to open the door," Yumichika looked up at the huge double doors. He walked forward and pushed against the wood, not expecting it to open but trying anyway, and almost falling over in shock when it just swung open. Wide eyed and amazed, he poked his head out, looking left and right down a wide corridor. Empty.

"Too easy, I don't like it," he stepped out, Rangiku following, both wary and alert, expecting to be struck at any moment. Yumichika closed his eyes, feeling for his Zanpaktou. "This way," he said, turning left.

They walked down the long hallway for a short while, constantly looking around. It wasn't long before Yumichika stopped in front of a door.

"In there."

"You sure?"

He nodded, moving forward to open the door. Just as his hand was about to touch the handle, a touch on his shoulder made him stop.

"I don't like this, it's all too easy."

"Be that as it may, we'll never get anywhere if we don't take risks, besides, where's the fun in not?"

Rangiku smiled slightly, taking her hand off in a gesture to carry on. "Spoken like a true 11th."

Hesitantly, the teenager reached forward, but was once again interrupted. A blast of red shot at his hand, at the handle. He staggered back, drawing his hand back quickly. Snapping his head to the right, he saw the old man, another ball of glowing red already in his hand, ready.

"I don't think so," Osamu snarled.

"Really?" Yumichika asked, scowling at the man, "cause I do." At that, with a flick of his finger, six beams of light appeared around Osamu's waist. But he had disappeared.

"I was expecting that," He hissed, suddenly appearing behind them. But before he could do anything, a shocking purple orb blasting him back several hundred feet.

"Wasn't expecting that though, were you?" Yumichika smirked, kicking the door down in one swift blow. He stormed into the small room, quickly spotting the two swords and grabbing them.

"How'd you do that?" Rangiku asked as he handed her the sword.

"Do what?"

"Use Kidou without the incantation."

Yumichika paused. "Umm...well, I don't really know, I just started doing it doing training with Mizaki, without realising at first, rather than saying it out loud I just say the incantation in my head, I've got to concentrate my reiatsu even more than usual, but it was surprisingly easy to do. It makes it faster too, you can send out loads of spells in one go, and it really give you the element of surprise," he smiled, stepping out of the room, tying his sword to his obi.

"You really are a true natural," Rangiku grinned.

But the grin was short lived, another red blast suddenly shot down the corridor from the darkness, taking them both by surprise and hitting a very shocked Yumichika in the shoulder, sending him flying. The purple-eyed teenager cried out as he hit the floor.

"Yumichika!" Rangiku ran forward, dropping to her knees next to the fallen shinigami. "You okay?" she asked as he sat up, face screwed up in pain.

"Dislocated shoulder I think," he muttered, gripping hold of the arm that hit the floor in a tight hold.

"Right, I think I can-" she was cut off as a sudden burst of intense reiatsu poured over the building, pushing the pair down under the pressure. It seemed that even Osamu couldn't handle the sudden pressure.

"W-What?" Rangiku stuttered.

The reiatsu quickly lessened to a point where they could both stand it and think straight. "It's definitely more than one," Rangiku mused, concentrating on trying to pick out whose was there.

"It's more than definite Rangiku, I do believe the Gotei Thirteen are here," Yumichika grinned.

* * *

**A/N: well, there we go, sorry for the delay, coursework has been due in and I've had so much to do. Hope you enjoy, and please review critically if you can, I really want to start improving my writing, but i need to know what areas I need to improve on, so any help would be greatly appreciated ^-^**

**Also a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you've been amazing :)  
**


	20. The Battle for Soul Society

**A/N: EDIT: I just thought I'd add, some of you may have noticed that an author (calling themselves 'Yumichika's Girlfriend') has been stealing stories, all about Yumichika, and reposting them on claiming she wrote them herself. Now I know she hasn't, mainly because I've read them all before. I have sent a review and she has replied denying several times that she stole them, not backing down. I know she's lying, and have reported the fic, and I will ask that you do the same, get this very obvious show of plagarism taken down. While she has not taken from me, I find it terrible that she can steal 20 stories so far and claim that she wrote all of them. Please help do something about it**.

* * *

The building came in to view as they exited the large gate. It was old, that much was certain, the metal was rusting and the wood falling into decay. It looked a lot like the lab in the twelfth division, though actually, Ikkaku thought, it wouldn't surprise him if they actually did build this place, it had the craziness of the twelfth written all over it.

Which was all well and good, but that wasn't the problem they seemed to be facing here.

Lined up in front were hundreds upon hundreds of hollows of various shapes and sizes. Some with long teeth and covered in fur, much like the one they had faced three years prior, others looked more like the typical hollow; large, masked and overall creepy. More were streaming out the doors every moment, filling up the gaps. It wasn't too long before the building had almost disappeared from view completely.

"This'll be fun," Mizaki deadpanned, standing on tiptoes to see over the heads of the other shinigami, but, not being particularly tall, standing at 5"4, this didn't really work all that well. Ikkaku couldn't help but chuckle a little at the sight of her trying to see over the taller heads, it reminded him of Yumichika always doing that, until he worked his way to fifth seat and always found himself at the front.

"I'm going to hunt down Hitsugaya Tachiou," Mizaki told him, breaking him out of the sudden flashback. Nodding in agreement, Ikkaku moved to stand next to his captain, whose feral grin seemed to be growing with every hollow coming out of the doors.

Eventually the flow of both hollow and shinigami stopped, and a thick, tense silence filled the air as both parties waited for the order to attack.

For some reason, Ikkaku was beginning to feel somewhat nervous, though he couldn't work out why. He was eager to get out there and fight, but at the same time apprehensive about the outcome of this war, and whether the two hostages would get out safely. It was a strange feeling to him, he had always thrown himself headfirst into things without thinking about the consequences and the future.

Despite his inner conflict, the moment the order for the hollows to attack was heard from the other side, a large feral grin appeared on his face as he pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on what was looking to be one of the toughest fights he had ever fought, if only because the creatures couldn't die.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yumichika was fighting a rather pissed off Osamu, which, by any means, was a slight understatement. Half of the anger was directed towards the Gotei thirteen, since, while they had quite literally turned up on his doorstep and now was the perfect chance to kill them all, he was not ready for an attack on this scale and he still hadn't convinced his greatest weapon. The other half was directed at said weapon, who was currently behind a couple of overturned metal tables with Matsumoto, both throwing spells at him from behind it.

"Now what the hell do we do?" Rangiku gasped out, throwing her back against the table once more. It was doing a surprisingly good job of shielding them against the onslaught of kidou attacks.

"I have no idea," Yumichika panted, breathing hard. Somewhere along the lines his Zanpaktou had been yanked out of his hands before he had a chance to use it, and the shadow man, as Yumichika had dubbed him (for lack of a better name) was now holding onto it, his golden eyes glowing and mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Well, we need something, we need to get your sword back," Rangiku said, glancing round the edge of the table, but throwing herself back undercover as a red blast only barely missed her.

"Think," the smaller muttered to himself, putting his head in his hands, "think, think, think, you've been learning this for over ten years," he screwed up his eyes, trying to think of a spell that would get them out of this mess, "what do we know? The shadow man isn't effected by binding spells," he paused, "but Kujaku is! Rangiku, distract them!" He hissed, turning slightly and pushing himself up onto the balls of his feet, still kneeling. Nodding, Rangiku unsheathed her Zanpaktou, and, visualising the targets, since she couldn't risk leaving the safety of their barricade.

"Howl, Haineko," she muttered, her Zanpaktou scattering into ash, sliding onto the floor and across the dusty tiles, being surprisingly sneaky, rearing it's grey head and surrounding the pair. With a flick of the wrist, the ash did it's work, and two shocked yells echoed around the room.

While they were both distracted, Yumichika concentrated his reiatsu, and muttered the short incantation under his breath. "Bakudō No. 9, Hōrin." At this an orange, glowing tendril shot out of his finger, moving at an incredible speed towards it's intended target, wrapping tightly around the sword and attempting to yank it out of the shadow man's hands.

Unfortunately the shadow had quickly caught on to what they were doing and wasn't going to just hand it over without a fight.

"Rangiku, I need something to shock him," Yumichika breathed, barely audible, back behind the table again for the moment, rope still wrapped around the sword, "can you block his view with your ash?"

The blonde nodded, and with another flick of the wrist the ash rose up once again and surrounded the golden eyed man. Quickly, Yumichika threw a simple attack at him, shocking him enough to loosen his grip, barely, but enough for the sword to be snatched from his hands.

Yumichika gave a little cheer once the violet sword was back in his hands, but it was short-lived as the table they were hiding behind suddenly lifted into the air and was thrown across the room, exposing the two shinigami.

"Ah," Yumichika gave a nervous chuckle, it would seem Osamu used his idea of the kidou rope thing, "crap," ah well, he had his sword now. Time to use it. Determination showing in his expression, the sounds of battle from outside reaching his ears, Yumichika shot forward, unsheathing his Zanpaktou and taking a swing at Osamu.

They sparred for a short while, both taking turns to swing at the other, both dodging and blocking, while Matsumoto took on the shadow man, using the full force of her Zanpaktou to her advantage, even if it didn't affect him, it blocked his view, giving her the upper hand.

But then, the inevitable happened, something Yumichika was sure was going to happen at some point over the past few years now he had grown it long, and the reason he had it cut short the time before.

Osamu swung out sideways, and not thinking about how his hair would swing at all, Yumichika ducked forward, the sharp blade avoiding his head by bare centimetres. But he heard it, the tell-tale sound of metal slicing through hair. He froze, seeing the long strands falling in front of his face onto the floor, feeling ribbon that had tied it up sliding off, the short strands tickling the back of his neck.

Even Rangiku froze at the sight, even backing away slightly as Yumichika stood to his full height (which wasn't particularly high, but that's beside the point), his face dark with fury, his hands visibly shaking as he gingerly touched the short hair, cut slightly unevenly, short at the back, falling over his shoulders to where the longer strands fell at the front. In her opinion, Rangiku thought it didn't look too bad, once it had been trimmed slightly to neaten it up. The style actually suited him somewhat, if they sorted it out a little.

Not that any of this actually occurred to Yumichika, he was too furious over the loss of his precious hair that he had been trying to grow out. And unfortunately when he got mad, he got reckless.

Ten minutes later both Yumichika and Osamu were on either sides of the room, panting, both with various wounds littering their bodies, some serious, like the stab wound in Yumichika's shoulder, which he was holding, trying to stop the bleeding, and some not so serious, like the tiny cut over Osamu's eyebrow.

Both the shadow and Rangiku had stopped their fight to watch in slight amusement and fear, respectively.

"Rangiku," Yumichika said in a dark voice.

"Yes."

"You might want to come here, I don't want you to get caught up in this," He told her, and, without question, not that anyone would question him with that look on his face, she quickly trotted over to where he was standing. Once she was safely behind him, Yumichika held out his sword in front of him, and, ignoring the sounds of hollows filling the room at Osamu's command, uttered one word:

"Bankai."

* * *

"This is Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe reporting in for the first division," Ukitake turned at the voice, which cracked part of the way through, probably due to the connection, seeing a hell butterfly hovering near his head.

"What is your report?" the white haired captain asked, letting the dark insect land on his finger. Surrounding him, the fourth division were already in a state of chaos, the first of the casualties beginning to filter through.

"Sou-tachiou is battling a group of high level hollow not too far off, casualties nearing one hundred, they're more powerful than we anticipated," The lieutenant said, and a low grunt was heard, before his voice was heard again, "that hurt, but we're not doing too badly."

"Second division reporting in," Soi Fon's voice was the next to make its appearance, "casualties one hundred and fifty. We're holding them off the best we can, and I've just seen Hitsugaya-tachiou get round the side, they should be in soon."

"Third division reporting," Kira's voice came in barely a second after Soi Fon had finished, "Casualties just under two hundred."

'_good, could be far worse,"_ Ukitake couldn't help but think before Hinamori's high pitched voice spoke up.

"Fifth Division! We're doing a good job of keeping them held back, the eleventh seemed have pushed through to the front to help, I think we would be far worse off if they hadn't. Casualties low, less than one hundred. We can hold them off, but I don't think we can push forward anymore."

"Sixth division!" Renji's rough voice sounded, "Casualties three hundred! I hate these bloody things! I'm useless at Kidou!" he growled out, obviously frustrated, and Ukitake couldn't help but chuckle.

"Seventh! Casualties under one fifty, we're holding them off okay, Tachiou seems to have vanished though, but I think he's okay."

Shunsui Kyōraku's smooth voice flowed through next. "Hey, Jūshirō, We're doing okay, Nanao-chan seems to be really enjoying this, casualties under one hundred, not too bad, eh?" Ukitake laughed, glad for the good news and positive attitude of his oldest friend.

"Ninth reporting," Hisagi's deep voice announced, "Casualties two hundred, just seen my third seat fall, looks serious!"

"Tenth division report," Hitsugaya's voice was low, meaning they were probably doing well, "The rest under fifth seat are fighting, sixth seat reported that casualties are nearing two hundred, and I'm close to getting in. Tanaka-san has joined us, though we seem to have hit a barricade, and, judging by my sensor, they've set up an ambush. It may take us a while to get in, but we're making good process." This was good news, if they could get into the building the battle would be almost won.

"Eleventh division!" Ikkaku's deep voice was surprising to hear, usually the lower seats would take the task of reporting, often Ayasegawa, but obviously, if their story was true, he was slightly busy being captured. "Casualties nearing five hundred," that was to expected, "we've moved forward to help hold them off at the front." In other words 'We weren't getting enough hollows back here so we've moved forward so it's more of a challenge'.

"Twelfth division, all clear here, no attacks." Mayuri's strange voice came up as soon as Ikkaku finished.

"Thirteenth here tachiou," Rukia's voice filtered through, slightly out of breath, or so it sounded, "Not doing too bad, third seat Kotetsu is seriously injured, Casualties two hundred."

All in all, they didn't seem to be doing too badly. While they were not moving forward particularly far, they were holding them off well.

"Ukitake-tachiou!" Sentarō Kotsubaki yelled out, and said captain whirled around, seeing his co-third seat, his partner leaning against him, barely awake, a large wound in her stomach, blood splattered over her face and darkening her blonde hair. Rukia wasn't kidding when she said 'seriously injured' "Help us out he-Woah!" A violent shudder shook the earth beneath them, sending many shinigami to the floor. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped once more.

"What's happening?" Shouts went up, healers quickly climbing to their feet to tend to the injured. Ukitake turned to the building, only seeing the top due to the battle, his eyes widening at what he saw. Shooting to the sky were what seemed to be hundreds of glowing azure tendrils. They stopped at a certain height, a couple of hundred metres above ground level, before crossing over each other, joining with another, forming a domed, glowing web.

The battle was nearly done.

* * *

**A/N: I am soooo sorry for the lack of updates, I know I promised some people it woud be done by Christmas, but for some reason it was more hectic than usual and I was hardly able to do anything. I did write that Xmas special thing though, so I hope you enjoyed that while you were waiting. But really, I have no excuse for the lack of updates *shot***

**Anyway, this seems to be drawing to a close pretty soon, only a couple of chapters left. I'll be sad to see this finish I have to admit, but all good things must come to an end I suppose. Ah well, enjoy and review. Lots of work due in over the next few weeks, but I'll do my best to write when I can :)**


	21. The Battle is Won

Rangiku watched in pure awe as Yumichika's sword scattered, looking much like a green-blue version of Kuchiki-Tachiou's, but without quite as many petals, and could probably cause slightly more damage. There was a few seconds pause, definitely a small weakness in his power, an enemy could strike in that time and Yumichika would have nothing to defend himself with. Then, after a few terrifying moments as the pair watched the room fill with hollows, the ground shook violently, almost sending the blonde to the ground and shocking even the hollows.

More out of alarm and worry than anything, Rangiku grabbed Yumichika's free hand. There was a deafening silence in the few short seconds before hundreds of azure vines shot out of the ground, some beyond the walls and therefore beyond sight, but both Yumichika and Rangiku could sense them there. Calming slightly, Rangiku moved to let go, but Yumichika tightened his grip on her hand, his face serious and anxious.

"We're right in the centre, you might get caught up, I just need to be sure," he murmured, barely audible over the screams of hollows, but Rangiku heard anyway, and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Expression still furious, but with hints of worry and tiredness creeping though, Yumichika kept a tight grip on his sword hilt, closing his eyes and trying to block out the haunting screams of the hollows. He didn't know what it was, but they sounded more...human than the others.

**_That's because they _**are**_ more human than the others._**

Yumichika almost jumped at the voice of his own Zanpaktou in his mind. Kujaku sounded almost exhilarated, probably because of the Bankai, but trace of sadness flitted in and out.

'_What? Human?'_

_**Made from the souls of humans from the surrounding towns.**_

Yumichika couldn't believe what he was hearing, his eyes shot open, and he almost stopped his Bankai. Innocent people? What kind of sick person would experiment on live humans? Kujaku's voice stopped him.

_**No, it sounds harsh, but death is the best option for them. They can never go back to being human. It's better to die than live like...like...that.**_

Yumichika nodded, closing his eyes once more and gripping hold of his sword and Rangiku's hand in a vice-like grip, waiting for the last scream to die away.

Once it did, an almost eerie silence covered the room and Yumichika dared to crack open one eye, seeing the almost empty room, same as before only one or two holes in the ceiling. Cowering by the door, on the floor and pressed up as close to the wall as he could, looking like he actually wanted to go through the wall itself was Osamu. The pair could actually hear whimpering coming from his direction.

"Pathetic," Yumichika couldn't help but mutter, watching him as his sword began to reform itself, glowing softly with the unused power. "Is it true though? Did you use humans as experiments, forcibly turning them into hollows?" There was a very obvious pause, silence enveloping the room, before the scientist nodded, lifting his head to look at them with scared and watery eyes.

"Then that settles it," Yumichika said, holding out his sword, ready to let loose the immense power within.

But then he hesitated. Not for some soppy reason, like he couldn't bear to kill someone who looked so pathetic, or 'he looked in his eyes and saw that maybe, just maybe he could change.' No. The man grinned. A crazy, homicidal grin, like he was suddenly pleased about something.

"See all these machines?" He gestured, pushing himself up into a shaky stance, hair falling in front of his eyes, "you kill me, they detonate. They've all got hidden bombs linked up to a sensor in my mind. My brain stops working flips the switch, so to speak, and they go off, blowing this place sky high," his grin grew even wider, "if I can't have you as my weapon, no one can." Maniacal laughter echoed around the room, and Yumichika took a defensive position.

"Rangiku, get out of here," he hissed, letting her hand go.

"What? No I-"

"Run! Please, I...I need to do this," Yumichika took a shaky breath, his brow furrowed, "you've got to leave."

"No!" Rangiku said, standing her ground. "Do you have any idea what Ikkaku would do to me if I let you get hurt again?" She put one hand on his shoulder, he was still almost a head shorter than her, and smiled in support. "If you do this I'm staying right here with you." She smiled.

Yumichika couldn't help but smile right back. He took his stance once more, holding out his sword with renewed determination.

"Fainaru-kō"

* * *

"Yes!" Mizaki cheered, finally blasting away the final hollow. Their small group, consisting of Herself, Hitsugaya, and a few higher seats of the tenth had been pushed back considerably, and were now a fair distance from the building. But with the hollows now gone, they could move forward. She had been watching the net of vines dissipate, watching the flowers falling, being pulled into one spot. While fighting, it was rather difficult to work out the exact spot they were being pulled to.

"Let's go!" She heard Hitsugaya yell.

But before she could take more than two steps forward, the sky lit up, and milliseconds later, a sound like hundreds of fireworks going off simultaneously filled the air, deafening them.

The group froze, Particularly Mizaki, who couldn't move an inch, even though she knew she had to protect herself somehow.

Yumichika.

Rangiku.

They were both in there. That building. Destroyed.

Luckily Hitsugaya had the good sense to do something to protect them and seconds later a vast ice dragon surrounded them, protecting them from the flames and debris that flew their direction.

Mizaki still couldn't move, couldn't get her head around the fact that she had lost her little brother and her best friend once again, even though she had only just got them back.

...No...

* * *

Ikkaku growled in frustration as he sliced a hollow clean in half, and still managed to do next to no damage when it simply regenerated. Despite the frustrations from the battle, he couldn't help but grin, the sight of the web of glowing vines giving him hope that Yumichika was still alive. At least for now.

He sliced at another hollow that was just about to jump at an unsuspecting fifth divisioner, who whirled around at the sound, wide eyed, but quickly catching on and aiming a kidou spell at the creature.

They were winning against the hollows, their numbers becoming fewer and fewer with every passing minute. But even so, Ikkaku was becoming a bit annoyed at how long it was taking, the vines had long disappeared, flowers falling, being pulled into the building, to Yumichika, meaning he must have won, and yet still no sign of him or Rangiku. Did that mean they were injured and couldn't get out? Or maybe Hitsugaya's Team had gotten there and they were doing an investigation or something? The worst case scenario flashed through his mind, and he quickly clamped his eyes shut, pushing the mental image from fifteen years ago out of his mind.

It could not have happened again. He refused to believe that he could have possibly lost his best friend again.

Thankfully, at just that moment, a bright green-blue lit up the sky for a second, and a shining beam shot up to the sky, raising his hopes once more and dashing the image from his mind.

But that hope was very quickly shattered as a very different type of light lit up the sky, and he could do nothing but watch, standing there frozen in absolute horror as the building exploded, the sounds deafening him and the others around him.

Then reality hit him, along with the force of the explosion, and before he could run forward, he was blown of his feet in a blast that knocked over even Zaraki. He didn't stand a chance. In a second he had hit the floor again, a sharp pain registered dimly in his brain, overpowered by the absolute despair in his heart, before everything went black.

* * *

He woke what felt like hours later, his vision filled not with the sky as expected, but a blur that looked a lot like someone's face, though his hazy mind couldn't quite work out who it was. A long curtain of matted dark hair fell down one side and a pair of large worried violet eyes stood out in his mind.

Groaning, Ikkaku lifted a hand to his head, closing his eyes once more, feeling the face move away and desperately trying to work out what the hell happened and why he had been unconscious.

He had been fighting hollows, those annoying ones, but what happened next?

Oh yeah.

Crap!

He sat up, a little too quickly as he felt the blood rush to his head, dizziness overwhelming him for a moment. Dropping his head into his heads he tried to speak, though at first it came out sounding more like a frog. He tried again.

"What happened?"

"The building's been destroyed," came a familiar grim voice from next to him. He looked up, seeing Mizaki sitting on her knees, staring at something on the other side of him. Her face was tear stained and miserable, and hints of tiredness were finally beginning to show through. "They're still searching for Yumichika and Rangiku, but so far they've found nothing," she told him, answering his silent question.

Ikkaku was shocked into silence, and felt like fainting when he turned to see the wreckage a couple hundred metres away. There was nothing left standing, it was all rubble, a few pipes sticking out of the ground here and there, though they were all mangled and misshapen.

"And," he almost stopped there, not wanting to know the answer, "how long have they been looking?"

"You probably don't want to know," Mizaki said, her eyes still searching the wreckage, looking for something, anything, even from this distance, for some inkling that her brother and best friend had survived.

"Mizaki," Ikkaku said, his voice threatening. Or as threatening as it could be when he was that tired.

"Six hours, they've been at it as soon as it was safe to go in." Ikkaku gaped at herm suddenly noticing the light around him, it was nearing sunset.

"And how long have I been out?"

"About seven hours or so," Mizaki told him, cringing slightly, "I've been out to look too, and I can't find their reiatsu anywhere."

"We've gotta go help!" Ikkaku exclaimed, not listening to a word she was saying, and attempting to get up. But he was pushed down by a grim looking Aimi.

"Not until we've checked you over," she said, her mouth a thin line and her brows furrowed as far as they would go. Her eyes showed a deep sadness and a loss of hope. She thought they weren't going to be found. Ikkaku knew better than to argue, as much as he wanted to, and so he sat there impatiently, tapping his foot, as Aimi did the routine checks.

Once she had deemed him okay, he was up like a shot, already striding over to the wreckage, Mizaki jogging after him.

A couple of shinigami still searching, namely Hisagi and Renji, shot him a sympathetic look as they pulled up rocks and scrambled over large piles of rubble that had been built up.

Ikkaku stalked through, looking this way and that. He was not going to stop until every rock and pebble had been turned over.

"Ikkaku!" Mizaki's voice sounded behind him, sounding desperate. "Please, Ikkaku," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop. "Please, if they were still alive, don't you think they would have been found by now?"

Her logic registered somewhere in the back of his mind, though he really, really didn't want to believe it. He slumped onto a rock, face in his hands, leaning his elbows on his knees. Mizaki sat down next to him, looking around her with sadness.

"Tell me something," she said after a while, "When he died, fifteen years ago, how did you feel?"

"What kind of a question is that? And why the hell are you asking it now?" Ikkaku asked, looking up with an expression of confusion.

Mizaki gave him a dry look, "Humour me."

Sighing, Ikkaku looked out towards the horizon. "It felt like..." he sighed again, "I'm not good at this type of crap."

"I'm sure you can think of something."

"It felt like, like my world was being torn apart. He was always there, ever since I met him for the first time, always kept me sane, always gave a good partner to spar with, though I can never really beat him, he always did some trick at the last second to make sure he won," he gave a weak chuckle, "the thought of him just not being there any more scared the hell out of me. And when he died, right there in my arms, my world died with him, it simply wasn't the same without him making snide comments and going on and on and on about beauty the whole time. Everyone thought I would be the first to die, and I'm almost glad it happened the way it did, I would never wish that kind of pain on anyone. Though the ideal would be we die together, so neither of us would have to go through it." He finished with yet another sigh, dropping his head.

"I see," Mizaki muttered, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Why'd you ask?" Ikkaku asked, looking up at her, confusion mounting when he saw the growing smile on her face.

"Just giving him a little bit of motivation," she grinned, spinning on the rock to look behind her, "How're you doing?" she yelled out, and Ikkaku's jaw dropped when he saw the rocks moving behind him, like someone was pushing up from below. It couldn't be...

"A little help would be nice!" came the all too familiar voice, slightly muffled. The bald darted up, Mizaki lazily following, the small grin still plastered on her face. They both started pulling at the rocks, moving the large boulders away with a slight difficulty, though the renewed hope gave them both the strength to get the rocks out of the way to reveal a small hole leading into a small chamber of sorts.

Relief flooded Ikkaku's mind and heart when he saw Yumichika smiling up at him, hair brutally sliced, bruises and scratched littering his skin, and one hand gripping his shoulder, but a large smile filling his face nonetheless. Rangiku was kneeling behind him, a smile of equal size filling her face.

"Help?" Yumichika said, holding out the hand that had been holding his shoulder. Ikkaku looked shocked at the injury and the fact that his hand was blood-stained and shaking, but took it anyway and pulled, Yumichika helping by pushing himself up with his legs.

The moment he was out Ikkaku pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around the lithe body and burying his face in the smaller's neck, shaking a little from adrenaline and shock. Yumichika was more than a little surprised at this rather out of character action, and froze for a moment his eyes, all you could see over the bald man's shoulder, wide as saucers, before relaxing, hugging the larger man back, a small smile gracing his features.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Ikkaku murmured, unconsciously tightening his hold.

"I won't," Yumichika muttered back, feeling tiredness suddenly cloud his mind, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. He was just so...so...tired. Without another word, he drifted off, not caring about where he was or the fact that he was actually standing up, he just needed to sleep. The last thing he remembered hearing before sleep clouded his thoughts was Mizaki making a small comment.

"Everything's alright with the world once again."

* * *

**A/N: I'm thinking one more chapter to wrap things up and an epilogue, how's that sound? Well, college has been crazy recently so I'm amazed I was even able to get this done. It was basically a big chapter of emotion :P Never let it be said that Tanaka Mizaki doesn't have her own sly side XD Well, I'm on the point of so tired I'm hyper so I'll leave now before I babble on and you get bored. So hope you enjoyed, and if you did, review and tell me. And if you didn't like it, review and tell me why :) It'll certainly help me get through the rest of the week before work is due in :P x **


	22. Waking up

It took the Gotei Thirteen a long time to get over the injuries and loss from the battle. There were many severely injured, after being taken by surprise or simply not knowing what they were up against. Of course, in comparison to the rest of the Gotei Thirteen, the 11th Division had the most casualties, which was predicted by everyone.

There were many losses, and the fourth division found themselves swamped for several days, trying to keep people alive and not neglect those with less serious injuries, which is something some complained about. Of course these people were quickly faced with Unohana-tachiou, whose calm yet terrifying aura promptly shut them up as she explained that some needed the attention more than others.

Thankfully none of the Captains were too badly injured, so getting Serietei under control and back to normal again wasn't a particularly difficult task, and many of those who weren't injured stepped into to help those who were, volunteering around the Fourth division, running errands and doing other typical fourth division tasks (cleaning was a big one, and no one was particularly happy with this, but they did it anyway, suddenly ever so grateful for the fourth division for doing the jobs they didn't want to).

The two of the three captain positions, still open even so long after the war were finally filled, Hisagi Shuuhei taking the position of ninth captain, despite the lack of Bankai. The trust and loyalty he showed and received from his division were enough to make the other captains re-think their options. Third was filled with Abarai Renji, Kira staying in the position of vice-captain, only too happy to serve under his old friend. The fifth division however, was still left open, nobody really wanted it after the betrayal, and the Head-Captain had a certain someone in mind to ask.

A Certain someone who was still slumbering away, after three days.

"Has he woken up yet?" Tanaka Mizaki asked, wandering into the room, one hand wrapped around a hot cup of coffee, the other holding another mug, which she handed to Ikkaku, who accepted gratefully, trying to stay awake.

"Not yet, It's been three days already, I'm kinda worried now, he's never slept this long," the bald sitting next to the bed muttered, taking a sip of the coffee, enjoying the feeling of adrenaline and energy slowly filling his body. He had been sitting by Yumichika's bedside for all that time, with a few exceptions, when Mizaki practically threw him from the room, telling him to go get sleep. He protested, of course, which Mizaki responded to with a swift and quite brutal bonk on the head, and a promise to let him know if anything happens.

"Rangiku only woke up yesterday, and considering everything, I'm not surprised," Mizaki said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring into her coffee. "He was in there a long time, and I don't know if he got any sleep, though I wouldn't have thought so, and Rangiku too. I don't want to imagine what they went through in there, and trying to get out after the explosion," she chuckled weakly, "it's no wonder they're exhausted."

"Heh, yeah, I suppose."

Silence fell as the pair simply watched Yumichika sleep, or stared out the window, both hoping for something to happen soon.

"Though I have to wonder how his hair got chopped," Mizaki said with a small chuckle, reaching out to stroke the still ruffled and matted hair. Ikkaku couldn't help but laugh too.

"Probably same as last time. Sliced in the heat of battle," He smiled, "Everyone still thinks it was me last time it happened, including Yumi, but actually it was the captain. Personally I think he did it on purpose, but he's certainly not allowed to know I think that, though it's probably true," his face suddenly darkened, "though for all the abuse I got for it, I almost wish I done it myself."

"I thought so," a new, slightly croaky voice spoke up, scaring the heck out of the other two occupants. They both jumped up, leaning over the bed, expressions both concerned and relieved. Yumichika tried to crack open his eyes, but immediately shut them again as the harsh hospital lights nearly blinded him.

"You okay sweetie?" Mizaki murmured, stroking his hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the teenager muttered, having another attempt at opening his eyes. "Can you stop that?" He asked, swatting at his sisters hand, "you're my sister, not my mother."

"Mother never used to do that!" Mizaki exclaimed. Yumichika pushed himself up a little, leaning against the pillows, and smirking a little.

"Speak for yourself."

Mizaki gaped, before frowning. "That's a rather obvious show of favouritism right there," she murmured, scowling as she sat back in the chair, arms crossed.

"You weren't the one who suffered from insomnia and nightmares."

"Really?" Ikkaku cut in, making Yumichika jump, almost forgetting the bald was there.

"Ikkaku," he said softly, a smile growing on his face as he sat up a little more. He winced as a shot of pain shot through his shoulder, moving to favour his other arm. Arranging his pillows he sat back slowly, so as not to injure his aching shoulder.

Mizaki smiled.

"I'll just go get you something to drink. Tea?" She offered, trying to hide her true intention of leaving the pair alone. Yumichika nodded and Mizaki made a quick exit, a smirk clear on her face.

"So," Yumichika started, biting his lip. He knew the lecture was bound to come sooner or later, both about his Zanpaktou and about what happened. "How long was I out?"

"Three days," Ikkaku replied, "you fell asleep the moment you got out, standing up!"

Yumichika chuckled, "I vaguely remember that, I think I was just so tired I couldn't hold out any longer," he said, smiling. There was a very obvious pause, both wanting to say the same thing, but neither wanting to. "Listen," Yumichika finally spoke out, "about my Zanpaktou, I'm really-"

"Don't worry about it," Ikkaku cut him off, shaking his head.

"No, seriously, I'm sorry for not telling you before."

"Like I said, don't worry," Ikkaku smiled, reaching out and ruffling his hair. Yumichika tried to protest, but his arm prevented him, another shot of pain stopping him from lifting his arm up, and the other being too tired still to actually move properly. That and his hair was probably so messed up after all that happened, it probably wouldn't make that much difference. "Though I do have to know," the bald continued, sitting back and smirking at the scowl on his friends face, "why?"

"Why didn't I tell you?" Yumichika asked, and after a nod of affirmation he sat back to think a little, "I think I was just scared of what you would think. You've always been against kidou, and I didn't want to risk anything. But I also think pride came in there, I didn't want anyone to think they have to protect me cause I have a kidou weapon, and I think I can fight well enough. But I always knew it would have to be revealed eventually. I hate to admit it, but Kidou's my nature, it just comes naturally to me."

"I can tell, what with the speed I saw you throwing those spells a few years ago," he couldn't help but laugh lightly, "but why did you have to hide your identity all these years? That's what I'm really confused about."

"Oh that? It came as part of the contract."

"Contract?"

"When I...died, the only way for me to be reincarnated with my memories intact was to give up everything I knew. At least until I gained Bankai, something about a higher destiny and how it was going to be needed in the future. It was never explained fully, but I think I had to give everything up so I could concentrate solely on the training. I don't really know."

"I see," Ikkaku mused.

"Besides, I think it'll be a little weird for everyone to see me as a ten year old," Yumichika laughed, "it sure felt weird. Now I know how the lieutenant feels. And I still feel fairly short now, even though I'm older."

"How tall are you?" Ikkaku asked, curious.

Yumichika mumbled something unintelligible, looking away.

"What was that?" The third seat smirked.

"5 foot 1," the smaller muttered with a deep scowl.

Ikkaku bit his lip, trying not to laugh out loud, though in his head he was in hysterics.

"Don't laugh," Yumichika warned, "I'm still only fifteen, I just haven't hit that growth spurt yet."

"Ahem," someone clearing their throat made both turn to the door, unsurprised to see Mizaki standing in the doorway. However they were surprised to see the head-captain standing behind her.

"Sou-Tachiou Yamamoto!" Ikkaku exclaimed, standing up as the old man entered the room.

"Madarame Ikkaku, I ask that you leave the room for a moment, I need to speak privately with Ayasegawa," Yamamoto told him.

"Which Ayasegawa?" Mizaki asked, somewhat dimwittedly.

"Mizaki, you're a Tanaka now remember," she blushed as her brother reminded her of this rather obvious fact, "and if it was you he wouldn't be in here."

"Shut up, I'm tired," Mizaki shot back, her cheeks dusted with pink from embarrassment.

She and Ikkaku left the room, both casting apologetic looks over their shoulders as they exited. The head-captain moved to sit in the chair Ikkaku had just vacated.

"Now Ayasegawa Yumichika, I have something I wish to discuss with you," the elder told him, and the younger simply nodded, encouraging him to continue. "Firstly I would like to thank you for what you did in the final battle, it was a great help."

"It's not like I had a chose in the matter, but you're welcome anyway," Yumichika told him with a small smile.

"Yes, well, in light of the recent events I come with a proposition. As you may or may not have been told, we still have one captains position open, and looking at your past records, and the fact that you have achieved Bankai, I hoped you would be the one to fill it."

His tone of voice made it sound more like a order than an offer, but Yumichika was quick to refuse anyway.

"I can't."

"And what is your reasoning?"

"Well, technically I'm still alive, I have a living body I need to return to at some point. And secondly, my alliances lie with the eleventh. Personally I think they would fall apart if they didn't have anyone to their paperwork properly. I'm surprised they lasted this long."

"Well, I'll admit they have fallen down a fair bit in that area, but even so, I think you would make a fine captain, you already have a lot of authority, for a fifth seat. You would lead them well."

Yumichika sat back, biting his lip, thinking hard. Yes a captain's position would be great, but was it worth it?

"I'll give you some time to think about it. We have no one else to fill it, so even if you went back to the living world, the position may still be there when you come back." And with that, he got up and left the room, leaving Yumichika in silence.

If he became a captain he would have to leave the eleventh. But it would mean, well, becoming a captain, one of the highest ranks you could achieve. Would he really be good enough? He was filling Aizen's spot, and while it really couldn't get much worse than what happened with him, would he really be able to lead an entire division well enough? True, he was practically leading the eleventh for all the work the others did, only Ikkaku worked as hard as he did, and that was rarely. If he left, the captain might actually have to do paperwork for once. That would certainly be interesting.

"Yumichika?" The third seat poked his head round the door, his face questioning. "Why did the Sou-Tachiou want to see you?"

"He," Yumichika started, then faltered, hesitating, "wanted to thank me for everything that happened."

"Oh, well, that was nice of him," Ikkaku said, his curious expression dropping and being replaced with one of boredom as he flopped down on the chair. "Was that it?"

Yumichika shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek in worry and thought. "He also offered me the fifth division captain position," he said quickly, looking away. A very obvious silence followed, and Yumichika couldn't help but wince inwardly, knowing he had probably struck a nerve. After all, Ikkaku had kept his Bankai a secret so he didn't have to leave the division, and Yumichika had always said he would do the same if he ever achieved it.

"And did you take it?" his voice sounded...normal. Yumichika looked back at his friend, who was looking at him with a small smile.

"A-ah, not yet, he said he'll give me some time to think about it."

"Let me rephrase, do you want to take it?"

Yumichika looked away again, out the window. "I don't know, I mean, it's a great honour, being asked, and it'll be a great position, but I'm not really sure if I want to leave the eleventh, I mean, who else would willingly...kind of...do the paperwork and file it _properly._" He empathised the last word, the memory of the last time he had left the division to do the paperwork and came back to chaos in the filing room.

"While this is true," Ikkaku could help but chuckle, "it's really up to you, after all, it's not really your duty to do the majority of the paperwork that you do at the moment, if we collapse because of the lack of doing it, it's our fault. And I'm sure I can find some way of forcing the lower seats to do it." He grinned wide. "The last fifteen years have been hell with the paperwork, most of it hasn't been done and is currently gathering dust in a empty room somewhere, and I don't even want to think about the accounts."

"Yeah, don't expect me to be doing all that crap when I get back," Yumichika laughed.

"So, what're you gonna do?"

* * *

"We'll come visit okay?" Rangiku yelled out as she approached the two siblings about to return to the living world. With her was her captain, along with Zaraki, Renji, Hisagi and Kira

"We're moving and not telling them okay?" Yumichika told his sister, who just laughed at his scowl and horrified tone of voice.

Two weeks had passed since Yumichika had woken up, and he had finally healed up enough for the pair to make their way back through the Senkaimon and back to the living world. After a lot of grumbling and whining on Yumichika's half, Mizaki had finally cut his hair, neatening and straightening it up, until it was a slightly longer version of what he used to have. A straight bob.

"So, see you in a few years then?" Yumichika said, with a small wave as he backed away from Rangiku, looking positively terrified. And with good reason too. Before he could even try to get away, the large-chested woman had grabbed him in a tight hug, almost suffocating the poor teenager.

"Oi, Rangiku! Try not to kill him again!" Ikkaku called out, walking up to the small group. "I think he's been through enough don't you?"

Reluctantly the vice-captain let the smaller go, and he gasped for breath, coughing a little as he tried to fill his lungs with air. "What did I do to deserve that?" He muttered to himself as he stood up straight.

"Who knows?" Ikkaku said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You gonna be okay? With Mizaki?"

Yumichika grimaced, "well, I've survived fifteen years, a few more can't hurt," he said, smiling, "much," he added, grinning at his sister, who simply glared.

"Time to go," she stated, frowning and heading towards the large door, "they can't keep it open forever you know."

Yumichika was about to follow, but a muscled arm suddenly around his neck prevented him from going any further. He heard a chuckle before a hand landed on his head and began to mess his hair up.

"Ack! No! Get off!" He cried, struggling against Ikkaku's strong grip, clawing at his arm. "Ikkaku! Stop that!"

The bald finally let go and Yumichika dropped to the ground, where he immediately moved to flatten his now tangled and messy hair. "I certainly won't, and didn't miss you doing that," he murmured, glaring daggers at his friend, who was sniggering, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, well, I missed doing that. No one had quite the same reaction as you," the bald chuckled, grinning from ear to ear. "Now you might want to get going, your sister's getting impatient."

The urge to smile overcame the need to glower at him and a wide grin broke out on his face.

"Alright, See you around." He called as he ran to Mizaki, who simply smiled as they both walked out the door, back into the world of the living. The smaller of the two turned at the last minute, catching one last glimpse of the group on the other side before the doors slammed shut.

* * *

**A/N: Oh my Gosh, it's the last chapter! It's come to an end! It's over! Wow! I didn't think I would ever get this far, 22 chapters and just over 60,000 words. This is impressive for me. Though I'm sad to see it finish. What am I going to do with my life now? (Finish the other multi-chapter actually, but that's not the point :P) Thank you everyone who has reviewed, whether I replied or forgot to reply I love you all. You've been amazing.**

**But, wait. I do believe I promised a epilogue. That'll be coming up in the next day or two (Hopefully, I want to get it done before I go to Ireland this weekend), so keep an eye out :D (And then it really will be over D': noooo!)  
**


	23. Epilogue

**Four years later**

It was a warm summers night when he appeared again. The moon was full and stars twinkled in the dark sky, casting a little light over the weekly eleventh division drinking party, the lanterns surrounding the courtyard shedding a little more. A few others from various divisions had joined and left throughout the night. Currently joining them was Matsumoto Rangiku (always at drinking parties, regardless of who's hosting), Abarai Renji, Hisagi Shuuhei and Tetsuzaemon Iba. They were idly chatting amongst themselves, no one person talking, though every now and again the talking would stop for a second as a loud burst of laughter broke out from Rangiku's direction and everyone would try and work out what she was laughing at (Apparently nothing, she was _that_ drunk).

Ikkaku was telling a story from his latest living world mission two weeks back, and most of the group were listening intently, curious as to what went on during that 'highly dangerous mission'.

It was halfway through when Ikkaku began to notice something different about his audience. Their attention wasn't solely on him anymore. Zaraki looked almost amused, and Yachiru (who was there, but not allowed anywhere near the alcohol) was giggling quietly to herself. Renji and Shuuhei had a strange smile etched on their faces, somewhere between amusement and exasperation. Even Rangiku had stopped her random laughter and was absolutely silent, eyebrows raised and a smug smile playing on her features.

"What are you- Argh!" the bald felt something collide with the back of his head, pushing him forward so he pitched face-first into the dirt. Something was holding his head down, pressing his face deeper into the dust.

"Always the last to work it out aren't you?" a very familiar voice spoke up, close to his ear. He stopped struggling, everything clicking into place.

"Yumi-Chan!" Rangiku's voice was the next to break the silence, loud and high pitched. The next thing Ikkaku knew, he was lying on his side on the ground, looking up at Rangiku throwing herself at the now older Yumichika, who was looking positively terrified of the very drunk woman.

"A-ah, Rangiku, don't call me that! Hey! What're you doing?" Ikkaku couldn't help but laugh as he sat up, at the sight of Rangiku practically tackling Yumichika, and the smaller man struggling to push her away so as not to end up almost suffocating again.

It was a while before everyone calmed down enough for Ikkaku to even say hello to his old friend.

He didn't look that different from when they had separated four years prior, his hair had grown out again, back into the high ponytail he had back when he was alive, and was still wearing the orange fingerless gloves.

"Yumichika," Ikkaku finally spoke up.

The man in question looked up, a small smile on his face.

"Hello," he grinned, sitting down cross-legged between an over-enthusiastic Rangiku, and Shuuhei.

"How long have you been in the Soul Society?"

"About a month, I ended up somewhere in district seventy-something, it took some time to get back, but Mizaki eventually found me and we got here without too much trouble. We've just been to see the Head-captain, and all the paperwork is going through in the morning."

"Paperwork? For your reinstatement as a Shinigami?" Shuuhei asked, just as Rangiku tilted her head in confusion.

"Not just as a shinigami," Yumichika said into his drink, a smug grin on his face.

"I don't get it," Rangiku said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I do," Ikkaku said, the grin on his face growing as he worked out just what he was saying, "you took the offer then I take it?"

Yumichika stuck his tongue out a little, "yep, it'll be official as soon as they've had a meeting about it and the paperwork has all been sorted. I'm actually looking forward to it."

"What are you going on about?" Zaraki spoke up.

"Well now, let's just say I won't be doing your paperwork anymore," the smug man said, taking a sip of his drink. Everyone still looked blank, staring at him with confusion clear on their faces.

"Nope, still not -hic- getting it," Rangiku said, frowning as her slowed thoughts tried to work out what he was trying to say. Rolling his eyes, Yumichika leant over and whispered something in the strawberry blonde's ear. Her eyes widened, as did Yumichika's grin.

"What!" She exclaimed, "Captain?"

* * *

**A/N: I'm actually choking up. I don't want it to end! and yet it must. :'( This has been such a journey for me, and although I'm sad to see it finish, I'm glad I saw it through :) I'm now moving on to my next multi-chapter, for Ouran High School host club, if you're interested, the first chapter is up. I'm trying something completely different with that one, based more on emotion than action, so it could be interesting :P  
**

**But because I don't want to leave this alone, I am opening requests for more Yumichika stories (Since I think he needs more attention) Oneshots preferably, but if I like the idea enough, I may be tempted to do another multi-chapter (Just not as long as this one :P) So if you have any requests, please PM me or leave it in a review if you don't have an account :) thank yoooouu**

**And to all my wonderful reviewers, thank you so much for sticking with me and this story, for commenting and helping me improve on my writing. I love you all...cookies and muffins all around :D You're amazing people. But keep them coming people of the future who have just discovered L.T., I love recieving reviews even when a story is long finished, lets me know my work is still liked, even when it's gathering dust in the corner :)  
**


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